


Skies the Bodyguard 3

by Snapped_Sky



Series: Skies the Bodyguard [3]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Borderlands: Borderlands 1, Borderlands: Borderlands 2, Canon-Typical Violence, Original Character(s), Spoilers, Tales From the Borderlands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:22:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 31,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23377591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snapped_Sky/pseuds/Snapped_Sky
Summary: After opening the Vault of the Traveler, Rhys and Fiona disappeared inside it without a trace. Now Skies, Vaughn, Sasha, August, Loader Bot, and Gortys must track them down with the help of some new and old friends, while trying to avoid being killed by new and old enemies.
Series: Skies the Bodyguard [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1339120
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a peek at the time Skies and Rhys spent together in Old Haven, between the fall of Helios and the opening of the Vault of the Traveler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the third part of Skies saga. This and the next story do not follow any games, rather take place between Tales from the Borderlands and Borderlands 3. This story is speckled with these 'Previously' moments.

Introduction

_Previously_

Skies the Bodyguard had dragged her half-dead body through the mine caverns to the Vault of the Warrior, where Handsome Jack was standing, bloody but alive, over the corpses of Lilith and her Vault Hunters. He looked up and smiled widely.

“Skies! You’re just in time for the big finale,” he boomed. His voice echoed in Skies’ head. “Don’t worry about your arm and eye, I’ll make you new ones- better ones- once this filthy planet is destroyed. And you can serve me forever, when I become a god.”

As if on cue, a giant stone monster burst out of the surrounding lava: the Warrior. It roared as it shambled by overhead. Skies could only watch as Pandora fell apart around her and she plummeted into the void, Jack’s echoing laugh surrounding her, drowning her.

\---

Skies jolted awake and shot up, panting and sweating heavily. She looked around and at her hands in a panic. Where was she? This wasn’t her penthouse on Helios. And this arm…this wasn’t the robot arm Jack made her. Where was Jack?

“Jack,” she panted, “Jack’s…dead…”

Taking deep, shuddery breaths, she lied back down. “Jack’s dead. This is my room in Old Haven. Rhys made me this arm…and this leg and this eye.”

She took one last deep breath before her breathing evened out. She was lying on the bunk she chose as her own in the room she chose as her own, in an old Atlas facility in Old Haven. This room had eight bunk beds built into the wall, made for many employees to share. But as Skies was the only other person living here now, she had claimed the whole room as her own. This was beneficial for both her and her roommate, as these night terrors weren’t an uncommon occurrence.

In an effort to live a healthier life, Skies had started sleeping more. But with more sleep brought these nightmares; the same one almost every night.

“JACK!” a distressed voice echoed from somewhere in the facility.

Skies sighed and lifted herself out of her bed. “At least I’m not the only one.”

She threw on her jacket as she rushed out of her room and down the hall. She went straight for the stairs, knowing full well where the voice was coming from. Racing to the first floor, she wished for the thousandth time they could get the elevator working.

When she reached the landing, she saw a man trying fruitlessly to open the front door. It was her roommate and newest, bestest friend, Rhys. And he was having a bad time.

“Jack!” he screamed as he banged on the door. “I can’t get to you! Where are you, Jack!”

“Rhys,” Skies said gently as she approached him. “Jack’s gone.”

“He’s-he’s calling me,” Rhys cried. His right eye- his organic eye- was glazed over but his left eye- his robotic eye- was wide open and glowing yellow.

Skies gently lowered his arms and nudged him away from the door. “You’re just hearing things, Rhys. Come on, let’s go sit down.”

“He’s calling me. I can hear him. He needs my help,” Rhys repeated quietly as Skies led him upstairs to the break room they’d repurposed as a kitchen. She sat Rhys down at the table and turned to the counter to make some coffee.

Just like Skies nightmares, this also wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. They were so used to this happening, they put a special lock on the front door so it would only open in the daytime. And Skies always knew when Rhys was fully awake because when she would turn back to the table with two mugs of fresh coffee, Rhys would have his head buried in his hands as he groaned softly.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” she said as she sat across from him, placing his mug before him.

“What’s good about it…”he mumbled as he lifted the mug.

“I didn’t say good.”

“Oh.”

Rhys blew away the steam and sipped the coffee, sighing with relief. “Well, this always makes it better.”

Skies smiled and sipped her own. “Yeah, I’ve gotten pretty good at making it.”

Lowering his mug, Rhys looked at her regretfully. “I didn’t…wake you, did I? I know how hard it is for you to fall asleep.”

“No, no, don’t worry,” Skies replied, “I was already awake because…you know.”

“Right,” he sighed, “well, at least we can suffer together.”

Skies smiled warmly as she watched Rhys drink his coffee. To him, that might’ve just been an offhanded comment, but to her it held so much meaning. Being with Rhys those last couple weeks had done more for her than she could possibly understand at the time. But at the very least she knew that she did not want to lose him. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys and Fiona have disappeared. Vaughn, Sasha, August, and Skies have to work together to find them.

Chapter 1

_Now_

Vaughn, Sasha, August, Athena, Zer0, and Skies skitter around like delighted children in a candy story, gathering up all the loot they can carry. After their previous fight with the Vault monster, the Traveler, they’ve earned it. Nearby, Gortys and Loader Bot are watching the sky and sharing a peaceful moment together while Rhys and Fiona have disappeared through the entrance of the Vault.

The excited looting and adorable moment are ruined by a blinding purple flash. When everyone whips around, they find the Vault entrance completely gone.

“Uh where’d the Vault go?” August asks.

“Good question,” Gortys comments, “but a better one might be-.”

“Rhys! Fiona!” Vaughn and Sasha exclaiming, dropping their armfuls of loot and rushing over to the site of the Vault. But there’s no evidence that the Vault even stood there; just Rhys and Fiona’s footsteps in the dirt disappearing without a trace.

“Where’d they go? Why’d this happen?” Sasha asks frantically.

“Rhys? Fiona? Can anyone hear me? Guys?” Vaughn calls into his ECHO communicator, but all he receives in response is static.

“The Vault of the Traveler,” Athena muses as she and the others join them. “This must have something to do with the treasure inside.”

“S-so where are they? Are they okay?” Sasha asks.

“How should I know?” she shrugs, “I was here, same as you.”

“What are we gonna do?” Vaughn asks as he fiddles with his ECHO device, “They’re not responding.”

“We’ll find them,” Skies declares. Everyone looks at her with surprise as she equips her brand new guns.

“How?” Sasha asks.

“Hyperion’s tracking system,” she replies, “every employee has a tracking number in case they tried to escape-er quit. We’ll use that and find Rhys’ location. Hopefully Fiona’s with him.”

“But all of the Pandora based servers went down when Helios did,” Vaughn points out, “besides, Rhys’ tracker was installed in his ECHO eye and that was destroyed.”

Skies opens her mouth as if to argue but quickly claps her hand over it. Groaning awkwardly, she seems to be having some kind of internal debate before lowering her hand.

“Okay,” she breathes, “let’s say, hypothetically, his ECHO eye wasn’t destroyed.”

“What do you mean? He tore it out of his own head,” Vaughn argues.

“Yes, yes he did and that’s freekin metal,” Skies agrees, “but let’s say- again, hypothetically- that all the wires and hardware were mostly intact and in, like, say, his pocket? Would we still be able to track it?”

Everyone stares at her, bewildered and suspicious.

“Well…if it’s still intact then the tracking system should work,” Vaughn muses.

“Awesome,” Skies grins, “so, how can we track it?”

“Uh well, like I said, all of the Pandora servers are down,” he explains, “but if we had a powerful enough computer system and a hacker, we might be able to get into the galaxy-wide main servers.”

“Cool. Okay, so, one thing at a time,” Skies says, “let’s find a hacker. I actually know of one, although I would prefer him to be kind of a last resort so, anyone else?”

“What about the old Helios employees?” August suggests.

“Pfft, no way,” Vaughn scoffs, “those guys are pretty much useless for anything except making creepy art portraying Rhys as a god.”

“Okay,” Skies sighs, “well, the hacker I know of is Claptrap.”

“Oh no,” Athena groans, facepalming.

“A CL4P-TP? I thought Hyperion discontinued them,” Sasha says.

“Yeah, but this one survived,” Skies replies then faces Zer0. “Zer0, what’s up with Sanctuary? Can newcomers still only get in through the fast travel station in Overlook?”

“Yes, it is locked down/ to anyone without/ teleportation,” he replies, flashing a winky face.

“Great,” Skies smiles and faces the others. “Then all you have to do is get to Overlook, then from there to Sanctuary, and get Claptrap.”

“Wait, why does it sound like you’re not coming?” Vaughn asks.

“Look, I wanna help find Rhys, but Sanctuary is kind of a bad zone for me,” she replies, rubbing her neck. “So when you find Claptrap, just let me know and I’ll meet you somewhere, okay?”

“Where’s Overlook?” Sasha asks.

“In the Highlands. You’re gonna need a vehicle,” she replies.

“Most of ours got destroyed in the fight,” Vaughn says.

“There’s a Catch-A-Ride nearby,” August points out, “we can hit that.”

“You guys go ahead,” Athena says, “I’m gonna wait here for Janey.”

“I will see you all/ in Sanctuary,” Zero says before disappearing.

“Okay, we’ll call you when we have the Claptrap,” Vaughn says.

“Good luck,” Skies calls after them. She and Athena watch as Vaughn, Sasha, August, Loader Bot, and Gortys walk away.

“Sooooo,” Skies says, turning to Athena. “I’m gonna get to meet your fiancée.”

Athena scoffs and walks back to the Helios wreckage, Skies following and pestering her with questions like, “can I be invited to the wedding?” and “on a scale of 9-10, how pretty is she?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies receives some advice from Athena.

Chapter 2

_Previously_

“How do I become a better person?”

Rhys looked up with surprise from where he was attaching Skies new robotic arm. She was staring at the ceiling, her single eye slightly glazed over. He wasn’t sure if she wanted an answer; she often said things aloud without realizing and she was pretty doped up on anesthetic at the time. But then she glanced at him.

“Ah, I don’t know if I’m the best to answer that,” Rhys replied as he got back to work. “There are lots of people who would say I’m not a good person.”

“What are you talking about?” Skies scoffed, “you’re like the greatest person I’ve ever met.”

He smiled. “Yeah, well, you haven’t met that many nice people.”

She shrugged agreeably. “I just…wanna get better…wanna be better than I was…”

Rhys glanced at her sympathetically. “Well…I think wanting to be a better person- like really wanting it- is a pretty good place to start.”

Skies mulled over her words as he attached her brand new arm.

\---

_Now_

Skies is curled up at the feet of an old Handsome Jack statue in the middle of the Helios wreckage. She’s staring at her robot arm, clenching and unclenching the fingers. Her new prosthetics aren’t nearly as nice and fancy as the ones Jack had made for her. No sleek paint job- just plain metal- and no built-in weapons or functions. But she sure does like them a lot more.

Why is that, she wonders. Because Rhys made them just for her, with no ulterior motives, just because she needed them? The thought always caused a warmth in her chest, but now it’s quickly followed by an odd heaviness. She doesn’t like it.”

“Hey.”

Skies flinches and looks over at Athena, who is standing at the base of the statue, glaring at her. How long had she been there?

“Athena, hey,” Skies smiles, lowering her arm. “What uh what can I do for you?”

“I feel weird asking you this,” Athena says, “but…are you okay?”  
“Fine. Why do you ask?”

“Because you’re staring at your arm like you’re scared it’s gonna run away.”

Skies chuckles. “Well, considering this is like my third arm, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Athena’s glare softens slightly. “You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”  
“Who?”

“Rhys, obviously,” she snaps, her glare back in full force. “It’s clear you care about him from how you were willing to come out of hiding to help him. So it’s okay to be worried.”  
Skies groans loudly, dragging her hands through her hair. “Okay fine. I’m…worried about him.”

Sighing heavily, she throws down her arms. “Y’know, before meeting Jack, my biggest worry was how I’m gonna get my next meal. Now I have like ‘friends’ or something? It’s just…all so weird and new.”

Athena crosses her arms and gazes at the sky. “For my whole life, I only cared about one person. And you know what I did when I lost her?”

“Yeah, you slaughtered the entire Atlas corporation,” Skies replies, “it was awesome; I kept up with it on the ECHO net.”  
“Exactly. And now I have Janey, and if anything happened to her, I would do everything to get her back and destroy anything that tried to stop me.”

Athena looks at Skies appraisingly. “What about you?”

“Wh-I-I am doing everything-.”

“Sure doesn’t look like it.”

“What about I supposed to do?” Skies snaps, “go to Sanctuary? I won’t be of much help to anyone if the Crimson Raiders shoot me on sight.”

Athena shrugs. “If you really wanna get him back, nothing should slow you down.”

Skies sighs and looks away, twisted feelings writhing in her stomach.

“Hey, look,” Athena says, nodding ahead. Skies looks around the statue and spots Vaughn, Sasha, August, Loader Bot, and Gortys walking towards them.

“Back so soon?” Athena asks as they approach.

“We can’t use the Catch-A-Ride,” Vaughn replies, “it’s got lock-out programs.”

“Aw, dammit,” Skies snaps, “I forgot about the lock-out programs. Freekin Scooter, may he rest in peace.”

Everyone is respectfully silent for a moment.

“It’s fine,” Athena says, “Janey’s on her way; she can let you in.”

“We can’t just sit around waiting for her,” Sasha points out.

“Sasha’s right,” Skies agrees as she hops off the statue. “We need to leave now. I know someone who can hook us up with a ride but she’s a bit of a walk from here. Still closer than Sanctuary though.”

“You’re gonna come?” Vaughn asks hopefully.

“Well, I have to show you the way. And besides-.” She glances at Athena. “I should be doing everything I can to get Rhys back.”

Sasha obnoxiously clears her throat.

“-and Fiona…”

“Good,” Athena nods, “I’ll stay here and wait for Janey. Good luck.”

Everyone waves at her as they leave together, beginning their trek through the desert.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew get help from Ellie.

Chapter 3

Vaughn, Sasha, August, Skies, Loader Bot, and Gortys make their way through the seemingly endless desert known as The Dust. The sand is loose beneath their feet, making it easy to slip; the powerful sun beats down overhead, providing very little shade even with the many outcrops of rock around. It’s a hot, miserable trek but this isn’t the first time any of them have had to go across a desert. Besides, it’s not like they have any other choice.

“So who are we going see?” Vaughn asks.

“A mechanic named Ellie,” Skies replies, “this is…pretty risky actually cause she’s with the Crimson Raiders. But she had a chance to kill me once and didn’t so.”

“How do you know her?” Sasha asks.

“Not long after Jack’s death I ended up wandering The Dust and got heat stroke,” she explains, “Ellie found me and nursed me back to health before realizing who I was. But she decided not to kill me or turn me in…for some reason…”

“And what makes you think she’ll give us a car?” August asks cynically.

Skies shrugs. “I dunno. She’s a good kid; I think she’ll at least do it for you guys. Er, then again, she was Scooter’s sister…”

A heavy silence hangs over them as Sasha and August share a guilty look.

The quiet is quickly broken by the roaring of an engine and excited shouting. Everyone looks up as a bandit technical closes in from the distance, practically overflowing with Psychos.

“Roadkill!” one of them shouts as he bangs his buzz saw axe against the outside of the truck.

“Uh oh,” Vaughn squeaks.

“To the rock!” Skies orders as she frantically points at a nearby outcrop. “Go go go!”

They race for the rock and scramble to the top just as the vehicle screeches by. One of the bandits inside draws a gun and begins firing. As they take cover behind the rock, Skies draws her rifle and waits for the technical to come back around.

Poking her head out from behind the rock, Skies aims and fires a short burst. The bullets tear through the right front tire. The driver immediately loses control and crashes into the outcrop. Before they can have a chance to recover, Skies stands over them and fires into the engine.

“Move!” she barks as smoke starts to rise from the hood. Everyone leaps away just before the technical explodes.

“Phew,” Skies sighs, brushing back her hair and holstering her rifle.

“You really pull no punches, huh,” Vaughn comments, smiling shakenly.

Skies starts to reply but gets cut off by a blood curdling howl. A Badass Psycho bursts from the burning vehicle and flies right for Skies, his large arm wielding a buzz saw axe. She barely dodges his blow, draws her old Hyperion pistol, and starts firing, but the bullets puncture his massive body like needles.

The Psycho huffs as he stands up and lifts his axe again. Skies glares at him, ready to dodge again, when bullets whiz by and blow into him, knocking him to his knees. Before he can get up, Skies shoots him a couple times in the head.

She sighs as he falls to her feet and looks back at the others. Vaughn, Sasha, August, and Loader Bot all re-holster guns.

“Y’know,” Skies says, glancing back at the Badass. “I used to be able to take down these guys by myself.”  
“Yeah, well, you also had a giant cannon crafted to your arm,” Sasha points out.

“It was pretty giant,” she mutters agreeably.

They continue their journey, thankfully without any more incidents, and soon reach Ellie’s junkyard. It’s really more junk than yard, with all kinds of metal garbage surrounding a garage and a large crusher behind a tall sign reading ‘Ellie’s’

“Okay, don’t bring up Scooter,” Skies warns as they pass the sign. “And try not to piss her off.”

The second Skies steps into the garage, she hears the click of a gun cocking and immediately throws out her arm, stopping the others in their tracks.

“Ellie?” she calls out, her eyes carefully scanning the garage. It’s not large, but the lights are off, cloaking the room in shadows.

“Gimme one good reason I shouldn’t blow yer brains out,” a voice demands from somewhere in the darkness.

“Ellie, I just wanna talk,” Skies says calmly, “we need your help.”

“Why should I listen to ya? I let ya go once and I’m bettin’ that was a mistake.”

“Look, you don’t have to listen to me. I don’t blame you. Just listen to my friend. He’ll explain everything.”

Skies looks back at Vaughn and motions for him to step forward. He gulps but slips past her into the garage.

“Well!” the voice booms excitedly. “Ain’t you a hunk of man.”  
An absolute mountain of a woman stomps into view, a shotgun resting on her shoulder. She beams at Vaughn who looks up at her, stunned, with a similar expression as the rest of his friends except for Skies, who tries not to make eye contact.

“Name’s Ellie,” she says, “what’cher name, Muscles?”

“Uh…I-I’m Vaughn,” he stammers and points at his friends. “This is Sasha, August, Loader Bot, and Gortys.”

“You are the biggest human I’ve ever seen!” Gortys comments.

“Gortys,” Sasha scolds.

“Oh, I mean that as a compliment.”

“Well, and yer just the cutest, lil robot I’ve ever seen,” Ellie replies.

“Thanks!” Gortys chimes.

“So, what can I do fer ya?” she asks, “and how do I know I can trust ya, since ya be rolling with…her.” She glares venom at Skies.

“Heh,” Skies chuckles uncomfortably and backs away. “I’ll just…be over here…”

She quickly goes to the entrance of the junkyard while Vaughn quickly explains their situation.

“Ya opened a Vault!” Ellie exclaims in shock. “Impressive.”

“Thanks,” Vaughn smiles awkward. “But our friends disappeared inside of it and we need to find them. We just need a car to make it easier to get around.”

“Why not use the Catch-A-Ride?”

“Well, we’re uh not exactly Catch-A-Ride customers,” he replies.

“Hmm,” Ellie muses as she looks everyone over. “I guess ya do look a bit like bandits. And ya do have…questionable company.”

She takes a second to glare at Skies’ back.

“Alright. I’ll give ya a technical,” she says, “it won’t be cheap, but since ya opened a Vault, I’m guessing ya can pay for it.”

“We’ll give you anything,” Vaughn replies, smiling with relief.

“Come on inside,” Ellie smiles and waves for them to enter. “Ya can pick yer features.” 

“Oh, I definitely want a minigun,” Sasha says as they all go inside, except for Gortys, who stops short and looks back. Skies is leaning against the entrance sign, staring at her right arm. She’s so focused on it, she doesn’t notice Gortys roll up to her until she’s tapping her shin.

Skies looks down at her with surprise. “Uh, Gortys. What-what’s up?”

“Why does nobody seem to like you?” she asks bluntly.

Skies chuckles awkwardly and looks off into the distance. “Well, Gortys, I was kind of a…horrible person before. I worked for a really bad guy and nobody really forgives me for it. Well, Vaughn does and Rhys too. But everyone else…well, I don’t really blame them. I deserve it.”

“Oh,” Gortys says then smiles at her. “Well, I forgive you.”

Skies looks at her, somewhat amused. “You don’t even know what I did.”

“That’s okay. I like the person you are now. Who you were before doesn’t matter.”

Skies stares at her, shocked. Then she kneels down, hesitantly reaches for her, and pats her head. Gortys beams at her and she smiles shakenly back.

“Skies, Gortys!” Vaughn calls to them and they look back. He points at a brown bandit technical that Sasha and August are getting into. “We got a vehicle.”  
Skies sighs as she stands up and nods at Gortys. “Alright, go to Loader Bot.”

Gortys rolls up to the others and Skies follows close behind. As Loader Bot helps Gortys into the truck, Skies approaches Ellie who glares at her darkly.

“Ellie, thank you,” she says, unwavering beneath her glare.

“Vaughn tells me ya’ll are going to Sanctuary to look fer help,” Ellie says.

“Yeah, w-well, I don’t think I will be…” Skies replies.

“He seems to trust ya. I hope that trust ain’t misplaced.”

“Yeah,” she sighs and looks back at Vaughn and the others. “Me too.”

Ellie’s glare seems to soften a bit. “Just don’t make me regret helping ya twice,” she warns, “cause if ya do, I’ll hunt ya down myself.”

Skies meets her eyes. “I’m…I’ll do my best.”

Ellie nods. “Now git outta here. Ya got friends to save.”

Skies smiles weakly before hopping into the back of the technical with Vaughn, Loader Bot, and Gortys; Sasha and August are in the front.

“Alright, which way to Sanctuary?” August asks.

“Just start driving,” Skies replies, “I’ll direct you.”

He starts the vehicle and takes off. Ellie watches quietly as they leave the junkyard and disappear into the Dust.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaughn, Sasha, August, Loader Bot, and Gortys go to Sanctuary while Skies checks out Opportunity.

Chapter 4

_Previously_

Rhys woke up in a familiar spot: the kitchen table in the Old Haven Atlas facility. He groaned and buried his face into his hands, digging his palms into his eyes.

“Morning,” Skies said as she sat across from him, handing him a mug of hot coffee. Rhys breathed it in deeply before taking a sip and sighing.

They drank their coffee in comfortable silence until Rhys was about halfway done. He stared at the liquid in his mug before setting it aside and rubbing his eyes. He was so exhausted; getting eight hours of sleep doesn’t do much when you spend the majority of it running around, screaming.

“I can’t do this anymore,” he groaned, “there’s gotta be some way to stop all this sleepwalking.”

“Short of therapy,” Skies grunted.

“Well, where am I gonna find a therapist on Pandora?”

She shrugged. “Maybe you should try carrying him around in your pocket.”

Rhys shuddered. “I told you to stop referring to it as ‘him’.”

“Sorry,” she smiled weakly, “but seriously. If you keep your old ECHO eye on you, it might remind you that he’s gone. It could help. Worked for me.”

Rhys considered the idea as he finished his coffee. “Well, I guess there’s nothing else I can do.”  
He left without another word and went up to the room he claimed as his own. It was an old office, probably belonged to some kind of manager. It was where he slept- when he could actually sleep- kept the few belongings he had, and worked on plans for bringing Atlas back to life, among other things.

He opened the bottom drawer of his desk, which contained only a small box. Inside was his old ECHO eye, which held the AI of Handsome Jack.

He let it hang from his fingers for a second and stared at it. The blue ocular device shimmered slightly from the early morning light streaming through the window. Briefly, he wondered if Jack really was calling to him, or if it was just his guilt-ridden subconscious.

“Of course he’s not calling me,” Rhys scoffed before slipping the device into his pocket. Maybe Skies was right; maybe it will serve as a reminder, even when he’s unconscious.

\---

_Now_

August stops the vehicle as they enter the Whispering Riverbed in the Highlands. Skies hops out of the back and points towards the north-west.

“That way is Overlook. Use the fast travel station there to get into Sanctuary,” she explains, “don’t be surprised if they hold you at gun point. Just tell them you’re Vault Hunters; they eat up that shit.”

“Where are you going?” Sasha asks critically.

“An old city on the coast called Opportunity,” she replies, “when you’re done in Sanctuary, meet me there. There’s a computer system we might be able to use.”

“Oh, and while you’re in Sanctuary, look for Patricia Tannis,” she adds quickly, “she knows more about the Vaults than anyone. She might be able to tell you something about the Vault of the Traveler.”

“Alright, good luck.” She pats the side of the technical and August takes off out of the dry riverbed. Skies watches them leave before putting on her Psycho mask and beginning the long walk to Opportunity.

It doesn’t take them long to find Overlook. After parking the car outside, they enter the small town, looking around curiously.

“Where is everyone?” Gortys asks.

“I don’t know,” Vaughn replies warily as he spots a curtain in one of the windows falling back into place. “But I think we’re being watched.”

“There’s the fast travel station,” August says.

They quickly approach but hesitate.

“So uh who’s first?” Vaughn asks nervously.

“I’ll go,” Loader Bot declares and activates it. The others follow one by one.

They each appear in the flying city of Sanctuary. Before they even have time to look around, they’re greeted by the assault rifles of the Crimson Raider guards.

“Whoa, whoa!” Vaughn exclaims, their arms shooting up. “Don’t shoot! We’re-we’re Vault Hunters! We’re Vault Hunters!”

“Vault Hunters?” one of the guards question and they all share a look.

“Lower your weapons,” a woman’s voice demands and the guards quickly obey. Vaughn and the others slowly lower their arms as a woman with fiery red hair and Siren tattoos approaches.

“State your business,” she orders, hands resting on her hips.

“Ya-d-um,” Vaughn stammers dumbly, unable to find his words.

“I’m Sasha,” Sasha says quickly, “this is Vaughn, August, Loader Bot, and Gortys.”

“Hi!” Gortys chimes cheerfully.

“We’re Vault Hunters and we opened the Vault of the Traveler,” she explains, “but my friend and sister disappeared when they went into it. We’re trying to find them and we need…Claptrap’s help.”

“Wow,” the Siren grins, “that’s not something I hear often. Well, if you’re telling the truth, then welcome to Sanctuary, home of the Crimson Raiders. I’m Lilith. Claptrap is always rolling around. You’re welcome to try and find him. But we’ll be watching you.”

Sasha and the others nod understandably. Lilith smiles before walking away and the guards disperse after her.

“Alright,” Vaughn sighs, “shall we look around?”

The group head into the city together. There are all kinds of people here: fully armed guards, obvious refugees. But they seem relaxed, if a bit suspicious as they eye the group going by.

“Maybe we should ask for directions,” Gortys suggests brightly before turning to a nearby person. “Excuse me, sir or ma’am. Do you know where we can find Claptrap?”

“Pft, who knows,” he scoffs, “hopefully he rolled off the city.”

“What about Patricia Tannis?” Vaughn asks.

“Oh, she’s in the main headquarters,” he replies, pointing at a nearby building. 

“Cool, thanks,” Sasha says and they head to the building. As they enter, they spot two men on the balcony overhead, watching them. One of them is wearing a mask and goggles with a small bird sitting on his shoulder and the other is an absolute brick-house.

The only person they see on the bottom floor is a woman standing by a table covered in books and documents. She seems well put together, with short, neat black hair and tight fitting clothes. But there’s a wild look in her eyes and an incessant twitch in her cheek that suggests maybe she’s not all right.

“Um, Patricia Tannis?” Vaughn asks.

“Yes,” she replies like it’s so obvious. “Who are you and why are you invading my precious space?”

“Uh we’re Vault Hunters,” he explains, “and we were wondering if you could tell us something about the Vault of the Traveler?”

“Vault of the Traveler? I never found much information on that one,” Tannis replies, “it was being researched by Atlas before they were wiped out years ago. It teleports all around the galaxy and they were creating a beacon to summon it and defeat the Vault monster.”

“Yeah, we know that already,” August grunts, “we already opened it.”

“You did?” she questions with surprise, actually looking at them for the first time. She quickly notices Gortys by their feet.

“Is that the Gortys bot?” she exclaims, getting on her hands and knees to view Gortys at eye level. “Fascinating. I thought it disappeared when Atlas went under.”  
“It did,” Vaughn says, “but we found it. Completely on purpose. Not by accident at all.”

“Hi!” Gortys says cheerfully.

“Well,” Tannis says as she stands up, dusting herself off. “If you already opened it, then why are you coming to me?”

“Our friends disappeared when they went inside,” Sasha replies, “we’re wondering if you might know what happened to them?”

“Hmmm,” she muses, “the Atlas researchers had a few theories on what might happen when the Vault is opened. One such theory was that the Vault was not the only challenge. Those who entered would be subject to multiple trials before receiving their ultimate prize.”

“So they could’ve been teleported to these trials?” Vaughn suggests.

“Then are they okay?” Sasha asks.

“I don’t know,” Tannis shrugs, “who knows what these trails are or even where they are.”

“Hmm,” Vaughn sighs, “well, thank you for your time.”

“You are welcome,” she nods, “now please leave. You’re starting to make my skin crawl.”

The group quickly leaves, stopping outside the door.

“Well, that didn’t help much,” August grunts.

“No,” Vaughn sighs, “let’s just focus on finding Cl-.”  
He stops as they hear a loud, grating voice talking incessantly about how good he is at dubstep. They look down the street and spot a yellow, rectangular robot on a wheel.

“Claptrap!” they exclaim simultaneously.

“Huh?” he squeaks.

Meanwhile, Skies arrives at the bridge leading to Opportunity. She stares at the city skyline across the ocean for a moment. From here, it looks like it always did the couple times she visited. But she’s heard about the raids and the riots after Jack’s death. There’s no way the city is as intact as it appears.

She turns away and approaches the control console for the bridge. She pushes the ‘lower’ button but nothing happens. After pushing it a couple more times to no avail, she kneels down and opens up the console.

“What…” she breathes with surprise. The console’s been completely gutted, the wires torn out.

“This wasn’t done by bandits,” she muses, “this was…systematic. Deliberate. Like someone is trying to keep people out of Opportunity. Or keep something in.”

Skies scratches her head as she stands up and exits the control hut. Folding her arms, she sighs heavily and stares out at the city.

“Now how are we gonna get there? From the water? That construction site is probably still flooded; we can get in through there. But that’s a long swim and where are we gonna find a boat? Maybe we should go to Lynchwood and use Nisha’s fast travel station. But that’s a long drive. Maybe Claptrap will be able to hack the bridge with the hardware underground, if we can get to it.”

While she babbles endlessly about possible choices, she hears a vehicle engine coming down the road. She quickly dives back into the hut and crouches below the windows, straining her ears to listen.

“Keep driving, keep driving,” she whispers as the vehicle approaches. Then it stops. “Dammit.”

“Are you sure?” a male voice asks.

“I swear, I saw someone here,” a female voice replies.

Skies immediately recognizes the voices and it makes her blood run cold.

She hears their footsteps approach the control hut and she draws her rifle, swallowing hard.

Just before they turn into the doorway, Skies smashes one of the windows with the butt of her rifle and dives out. She races away towards their outrunner. If she can make it, she can drive away before they realize anything.

But just as she gets close, her body freezes with one arm out and one leg up, in a frantic running position. A purple, shimmering wall appears around her and she’s lifted up and carried back towards the control hut.

The wall disappears and she’s dropped onto her butt. The force causes her mask to fall off and she blanches.

“Uh oh,” she mumbles and looks up into the faces of two very familiar, very shocked Vault Hunters.

“Heya, Axton, Maya,” Skies says, smiling shakenly. “Long time no see…?”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crimson Raiders find out Skies is alive.

Chapter 5

“I swear you got the wrong Claptrap!”

“Ugh, for the last time, you stupid robot,” August groans, dragging his hands down his face. “You’re not in trouble. We need your help.”

“To fix a mistake I made?” Claptrap asks.

“No!” August, Vaughn, and Sasha exclaim with frustration.

“Look, okay,” Vaughn huffs and kneels in front of the robot. “We need you to hack into the Hyperion database. Can you do that?”

“Ooooh,” Claptrap replies with realization. “Wow! It’s not everyday somebody needs my expertise.” 

“So you’ll help us?” Sasha asks.

“Sure!” he chimes, “let me just go grab my stuff and let my friends know I’m leaving. Wouldn’t want them worrying about me.”

“Make it quick,” August snaps as he rolls away.

“Okay,” Vaughn sighs heavily. “Now we just have to meet Skies at Opportunity. All in all, this is going quite smoothly.”  
“Well, don’t jinx it, stupid,” Sasha grunts, “something can always go wrong.”

“She is correct,” Loader Bot agrees, “let us not forget, Skies is an enemy of the Crimson Raiders. If they find out we’re with her, things can go very wrong.”

“Well, let’s make sure they don’t find out,” August states.

They turn towards the fast travel station to get ready to leave when they see Skies digistruct from it. 

“What is she doing here!” Sasha hisses with surprise.

Skies doesn’t notice them at first. She appears panicked and tries to frantically race away when a purple, transparent force field appears around her. Frozen and groaning painfully, she’s carried back to the fast travel station where two Vault Hunters are standing: Maya and Axton.

“Nice try,” Maya smirks as she holds Skies in her Phaselock.

“Hey, everyone!” Axton calls out, “come check out what we found skulking around the Opportunity bridge!”

“I wasn’t skulking,” Skies argues through gritted teeth. Maya drops her Phaselock and Skies stumbles as she lands on the ground before standing up straight and smoothing out her jacket. “I was just…checking it out.”

Skies keeps her head held high as the Crimson Raider guards surround her, all murmuring with surprise, “is that Skies? It’s Skies the Bodyguard!”

“No way!” Gaige exclaims as she pushes through the crowd, followed closely Salvador, Zer0, and Krieg.

“Skies the Bodyguard,” Salvador hisses.

“Handsome lover,” Krieg snarls, patting his buzz saw axe.

Skies meets all their glares defiantly until her eyes meet Zer0, and she guiltily looks away.

“Move. Everyone out of the way!”

Skies flinches at the familiar voice and looks up as Lilith exits the crowd with Mordecai and Brick. She gulps, takes a deep breath, and squares up.

“Heya, Lilith.”

“Unbelievable,” Lilith growls as she approaches. “The rumours were true. You really are alive.”

“Rumours?” Skies questions, “guess my reputation has always preceded me.”

“How did you survive?” Brick demands, “you were practically a doormat!”

“Dunno. Guess I just can’t die,” she shrugs.

“Let’s find out,” Lilith growls and lifts her hand. Immediately the Crimson Raider guards take aim.

“Oh no,” Vaughn whimpers and starts to step forward, but Loader Bot holds him back.

“Whoa, whoa, hold up,” Skies says quickly, lifting her hands. “I know you all really, really, really wanna kill me, but let me just explain.”

“Explain?” Lilith questions scornfully.

“I’m not your enemy anymore,” she replies, “I…I’ve changed.”

Maya, Axton, Salvador, Krieg, and Gaige burst into laughter.

“Yeah, right,” Mordecai snorts.

“It’s true!” Skies insists, “I’m trying to become a better person to like atone for all the bad stuff I did.”

“That’s a lot of atonement,” Gaige scoffs with amusement.

“If you’ve really changed, then why were you at Opportunity?” Maya asks.

“Yeah, and why did you have this?” Axton adds, lifting her Psycho mask.

“Hey! Gimme that back!” Skies cries and tries to grab it, but the guards cock their guns, holding her back.

Axton picks at the back of the mask, pulling something out and holding it up for everyone to see: Handsome Jack’s mask.

“Is that Jack’s mask?” Salvador laughs.

“You’ve been carrying that around with you this whole time?” Gaige snorts.

“Icky!” Krieg chortles.

“Yeah, so much for moving on,” Axton scoffs and tosses the mask at Skies. It bounces off her chest and lands at her feet.

She glares at it as her face flushes with shame from the Vault Hunters and guards cackling. Gripping her fists, frustration and embarrassment roil around in her stomach until it becomes too much.

“Think what you want!” she shouts and everyone quiets down. She grabs the mask and holds it up. “I keep this as a reminder. A reminder that it all really happened and that he’s really gone! And so I don’t become that person again.”

Skies lowers the mask and looks at forlornly. “I don’t care what any of you say. I have changed. I can tell because…because I don’t want to fight you anymore.”

Her arms fall to her side, fingers still gripping the mask, and she hangs her head. All of her confidence seems to melt away as her body sags like it’s becoming too heavy to hold.

“Jack’s gone,” she says, her voice uncharacteristically small. “And I…am so tired…”

Everyone just stares at her, shocked by this sudden change. Vaughn, August, Sasha, Loader Bot, and Gortys watch from the sidelines, pitying and concerned.

“So what?” Maya asks sceptically. “You just suddenly decided you want to change, to become a better person?”

“No, not exactly,” Skies replies, eyes still on the ground. “It took me a while to realize…but I guess it all started…because of-.”

“Skies?” a voice interrupts her and she looks up with surprise.

“Tina,” she breathes as the young girl pokes her head out of the crowd.

“Skies!” Tiny Tina exclaims happily and races forward. She practically jumps into Skies’ arms, laughing excitedly. “It’s so freekin cool to see you again! You look amaze-balls, girl! You gots an arm, and an eye, and a new leg! Hey, what happened to the leg I made you? I mean it sucked compared to this one but it was still awesome.”

Skies can’t even reply as Tina clambers around her, examining her robot arm, leg, and eye. But she quickly becomes aware of everyone staring at them, incredulous.

“T-Tina,” Skies stammers.

“Wait, what are you doing here?” she asks, finally stopping for a second. “I swear I didn’t say nothing!”

“Tina, just-.”

“Tina!” Lilith snaps, “you know her?”

“Yeah!” Tina beams, “we’re best friends.”

“N-no, we-,” Skies stutters frantically.

“What did you do to her?” Lilith barks at her.

“N-nothing,” Skies insists, “she-she helped me. I didn’t-I didn’t ask her to. I didn’t even-.”

“Tina, get away from her,” Lilith orders as her tattoos start glowing.

“Wait, Lil,” Tina insists, “she’s not really so bad, really.”

“Tina, do as she says,” Skies demands. 

She looks up at her with surprise, but Skies just glares at Lilith, not with defiance but with acceptance.

“I should’ve done this a long time ago,” Lilith growls as she lifts her hand.

“Yeah,” Skies says, “you should’ve.”

Lilith points at her, her hand glowing purple.

“Noooooo!”

Everyone is startled by the shrill voice as guards are knocked aside and Gortys zooms in, skidding to a stop in front of Skies.

“Gortys!” she exclaims, “uh-I-I mean, little robot I’ve never seen before. What do you think you’re doing?”

“I won’t let her kill you!” Gortys cries, “you’re my friend!”

Skies blinks, taken aback.

“You know those so-called Vault Hunters?” Lilith asks, pointing at Vaughn and the others.

“Told ya something was up with them,” Mordecai says to Brick.

“She’s our friend,” Vaughn says as he walks forward and stands next to Gortys.

“Vaughn!” Skies snaps.

“Gortys is right,” he says, “we can’t just let them kill you. It’s not fair! They don’t know you!”

Skies sighs. “I think they know me pretty well.”

“Well, not the new you,” he argues, “besides, you have to help us find Rhys and Fiona, remember?”  
She looks at him with surprise and he smiles warmly. Squeezing her right arm, she chuckles weakly.

“Well, shit, you got me there.”  
Skies takes a deep breath and straightens up, looking more like her usual self. “Sorry, Lilith. I really don’t wanna fight you anymore but I can’t just let you kill me. I have…friends I need to help.”  
“You think you can just walk out of here?” Lilith scoffs.

Skies looks around at the many guns and angry faces pointed at her.

“Eh,” she shrugs, “I’ve walked out of worse.”  
She slips Jack’s mask into her jacket and pulls out her old Hyperion pistol, flipping it around her finger and cocking it.

Lilith snarls and glares at her. Skies glares back.

“Jeez, things really went bad,” August comments.

“Yes,” Loader Bot agrees, “time for Plan B.”

“Plan B?” Sasha questions.

“I’m back!” Claptrap sings as he rolls up to them. “What’d I miss?”

Without warning, Loader Bot picks him and races away. “Cheese it!”

“Whaaaaat!” Claptrap cries.

Sasha and August share a quick look before following him.

“Hey!” Axton exclaims, pointing after them, turning everyone’s attention. 

Vaughn, Skies, and Gortys look at them with surprise before a big smile spreads across Skies’ face.

“You heard them, Vaughn!” she exclaims as she reaches into her jacket, pulls out a MIRV grenade, and tosses it high into the air.

“Sorry, Tina,” she says quickly as she picks up the girl and tosses her to Lilith.

“Hey!” she barks and catches her while Tina just laughs. At the same time, Skies shoots the grenade in the sky and it explodes into a dozen smaller grenades that rain down around Skies, Vaughn, and Gortys. As they explode, startling everyone else, Skies grabs Vaughn and Gortys.

“Time to cheese it!” she exclaims and races away.

“Stop them!” Lilith orders as she lowers Tina. But before the guards can lift their guns, Vaughn smacks one in the head with his sniper rifle while Skies pistol whips another, giving them a break in the crowd.

“After them!” Lilith barks and she and the Vault Hunters give chase. They watch Skies, Vaughn, and Gortys turn a corner, but when they follow, they’ve disappeared.

“Where’d they go?” Brick asks incredulously.

“They can’t have gotten far,” Lilith replies, “split up; find them! All of them! They won’t get away with this.”

Everyone nods affirmatively and split apart to begin a citywide manhunt.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew escape Sanctuary.

Chapter 6

“Claptrap? Claptrap!” the Vault Hunters call out as they wander around Sanctuary.

“Figures. The one time we don’t want him to shut up,” Gaige snorts.

As they pass by a taller building, Skies pokes her head over the edge of the roof. She watches them until they’re gone then turns back to the rest of the group. They’re huddled in the middle of the roof, watching as Loader Bot pulls his hand out of Claptrap’s back after shutting him off.

“Nice thinking grabbing the Claptrap, Loader Bot,” Skies comments as she crawls over.

“Yeah, nice thinking,” Sasha scoffs derisively, “now we’re trapped on a floating city, being hunted by professional killers. What are we gonna do?”

“Relax, it’ll be fine,” Skies promises.

“You don’t get to say that,” she snaps, “this is all your fault.”

“I didn’t wanna come here in the first place!” she argues, “for this exact reason! If anything, it’s Axton and Maya’s faults.”

“Guys, stopping fighting,” Gortys cries.

“Gortys is right,” Vaughn says, “they’re after all of us now. We have to stick together.”  
The girls both huff and turn away from each other.

“So,” Vaughn sighs, “how are we getting out of here?”

Before anyone can answer, Loader Bot aims his rifle forward. Everyone immediately whips around, readying their own guns, to find Zer0 crouching behind them, a seemingly blank expression.

“Zer0,” Skies says cautiously, “buddy. We cool?”

He nods. “We’re cool.”

Everyone sighs with relief and lowers their guns.

“I know another/ way out. A backdoor of sorts/ I will lead you there,” he says and turns away, hopping over to a neighboring building.

“Can we trust him?” August asks.

“I trust him,” Skies replies before following.

The others share a wary look and Vaughn shrugs. “What choice do we have?”

They follow Zer0 across the roofs of the city before he stops on a shorter building. He opens up a hatch and they all drop inside into a dark room.

“Where are we?” Sasha asks.

The question is quickly answered when the lights switch on. They’re in a small room full of barrels and bottles of alcohol and boxes and bags of snack foods. And leaning against the wall by the light switch is a beautiful woman in a scantily clad dress and clown make-up, easily recognizable by anyone on Pandora.

“Mad Moxxi,” everyone breathes in awe.

“So you’re the ones causing so much trouble,” she purrs as she steps forward. “Well, fortunately for you, I like trouble.”

“Wait. You’re gonna help us?” August asks in disbelief. “Why?”

She shrugs. “I want a cut. Zer0 told me about how he helped you open the Vault of the Traveler. After you find your friends, I want some of the treasure.”

“What makes you think there is any treasure?” Sasha asks.

“Maybe there isn’t. But I expect something in return. And…also…”

Moxxi trails off and looks away forlornly. “Scooter died for you. I wanna make sure it was worth it.”  
Sasha and August guiltily look away. “I’m sorry,” Sasha says, “he…he was a hero.”

“Yes,” Moxxi agrees, “he was. Now, get out of here. There’s a fast travel station through that door that’ll take you to Overlook.”  
Vaughn opens a door in the back of the room revealing a fast travel station, just like she said. “Great. Let’s go guys.”  
The others hurry over but Skies lags behind next to Zer0.

“You saved me again,” she says, smiling awkwardly, “you really are Zer0 my hero, heh.”

Her smile drops. “Why?”

“You can’t die yet. You/ are making good progress. I/ enjoy watching it,” he replies.

“You really think?” Skies questions, “but if your friends find out…”  
“They are angry and/ bored. You do not deserve their/ ire. Not anymore.”  
She stares at him with surprise then quickly looks away, sputtering awkwardly before clearing her throat. “Uh…thank you, Zer0.”

He nods, flashing a smiley face. “Go save your friends.”  
She smiles back before trotting after the others, stopping briefly by Moxxi. “Moxxi, it’s uh nice to meet you in person. I um-.”

Moxxi raises her hand, cutting her off. “I’ma stop you right there, sugar. If Zer0 didn’t vouch for you, you’d already be shot.”  
Skies chuckles awkwardly. “Right. I’ll just go then.”

She joins her friends and they quickly teleport away. One by one, they digistruct in Overlook and immediately race through the town.

“We gotta hurry,” Skies says, “it won’t be long before they know we’re gone.”  
“Where do we go?” August asks as they hop into the technical.

“The Dust for now,” she replies, “we can’t reach Opportunity from this side. We gotta take a different route.”

He starts the car and they screech down the road, back towards the tunnel leading to the Dust. Everyone’s quiet, willing the universe to let them escape without incident. Unfortunately, that can never happen.

Skies looks back and flinches as she spots another technical, full of people in red armor.

“Duck!” she exclaims, shoving Vaughn to the floor as a bullet whizzes by.

“Ah! Is it them?” he asks frantically.

“They’re definitely Crimson Raiders,” Skies replies as she pokes her head over the back. “But I’m guessing just a patrol unit. Keep going, August!”

The raiders continue shooting at them, bullets pinging against the back and sides of the vehicle.

“Gah! Someone get on the turret!” August orders.

“No, we can’t kill them!” Skies insists, “just get into the tunnel and I’ll handle it!”

Everyone keeps their heads down as their pursuers relentlessly fire. When they finally enter the tunnel, Skies draws her pistol, waits until there’s a short lull while the raiders reload, then sits up.

She fires three shots, all which tear into the front right tire. The driver immediately loses control and crashes the technical into the side of the tunnel, jamming it between the walls.

“Nice shot,” Vaughn comments. The raiders shout and shoot after them, but it’s fruitless as they disappear down the tunnel.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew head through the Dust.

Chapter 7

_Previously_

“Do I have to use a gun?” Rhys whined, “it’s not really my style.”  
“This isn’t about ‘style’,” Skies chided, “this is about living on Pandora, where everything wants to kill you all the time. Here, look, I even found you a Hyperion pistol. It’s not as good as mine but it’ll be fine for you.”  
“Fine,” Rhys groaned as she handed him the gun. They were inside some kind of old office room in the Old Haven Atlas facility. Skies had repurposed it to be a firing range, with three crudely drawn bandit targets. She held out her own gun and Rhys mirrored her stance.

“Okay, grip it with both hands, aim down the sight, and squeeze the trigger,” she explained.

Rhys did so, and the bullet whizzed directly between two targets. His shoulders sagged with disappointment.

“That’s alright,” Skies said reassuringly, “you’re a beginner. Take a deep breath and keep trying.”  
Inhaling deeply, Rhys tried again. Half an hour and about one hundred bullets later, the wall behind the targets was riddled with holes while the targets themselves remained clean and unharmed.

Groaning heavily, Rhys hung his head and arms in defeat while Skies shook her head with disbelief.

“Y’know, the saying is ‘you can’t hit the broad side of a barn’,” she said, “but you have no trouble with that.”

“Whatever!” Rhys snapped, throwing his hands into the air with frustration. “Like to see you do better. What am I saying, of course you’d do bet-.”

Skies cut him off by firing her pistol, emptying the mag into the heads of all three targets.

“Whoa,” Rhys breathed in awe.

“Tch,” she clicked her tongue with disapproval. “I’m rusty.”

“Rusty?” he exclaimed, “you got all head-shots!”

“Yeah, but the bullets didn’t go into the same holes.”  
He blinked at her, stunned. “Are you what they call a ‘crack shot’?”

Skies beamed. “Well, I have been doing this literally my whole life. Actually, I prefer using knives- has a more ‘personal touch’. But that doesn’t always work.”  
Rhys huffed and crossed his arms like a stubborn child. “Well, when I start weapons manufacturing, I’m gonna make guns that don’t require aiming. Yeah, they’ll have…tracking bullets.”

“Tracking bullets?” Skies snorted with amusement.

“That’s right!” he boomed, “shoot them in the general area of your enemies, and they’ll take care of the rest. They’ll be unlike any other guns ever.”  
“Well, you’ll be pandering to the one demographic no other gun manufacturers have thought about: people who can’t aim.”  
“Exactly!”

Skies chuckled but grabbed his gun and handed it back to him. “Still, I want you to hang onto this. I’ll feel better knowing you have something other than that pixie stick with you.”  
“Hey, that stun baton is awesome,” Rhys argued, “but fine, for you, I’ll keep the gun.”

She smiled softly. “Thank you.”

\---

_Now_

Lilith pinches her nose in frustration at the sight before her. The technical is completely written off, the hood practically flattened against the side of the tunnel and the rest of the vehicle blocking off access to the Dust. The only good news is that none of the passengers were hurt, just some whiplash.

“We’re sorry, Commander,” one of the Crimson Raiders who was in the vehicle says. “We just saw a group of people we didn’t know running from Overlook and we thought it was suspicious. If we knew one of them was Skies the Bodyguard, we would’ve called you.”  
“It’s fine,” Lilith insists, “you didn’t know.”  
Brick and Mordecai stand beside her while the Vault Hunters examine the vehicle. The only major damage was from the crash, except for the cause which is the left tire torn up by bullets. It’s clear the aiming was precise and exact; the shooter knew exactly what they were doing.

“Was Skies the one shooting?” Mordecai asks.

“I think so,” the driver replies, “it looked like a woman.”  
“Why would she aim for the tire and not the driver…” Maya muses.

“It’s interesting/,” Zer0 says, “a crack shot like Skies could have/ killed them all with ease.”

“What are ya gettin’ at?” Salvador asks.

“Don’t tell me you actually buy her sob story,” Gaige scoffs. Zer0 merely shrugs, ‘…’ displayed on his helmet.

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Maya grunts, “they escaped into the Dust. We’ll never find them.”

“Oh, we’ll find them,” Axton declares as he reaches into his bag and pulls out Skies Psycho mask. “With this.”

“You kept that?” Maya scoffs with disgust.

“You bet,” he grins, “and with it, Dukino can track her scent.”

“Good idea,” Lilith comments, “you guys get Dukino and we’ll get this vehicle out of the way. Then we’ll track her down.”

“You got it, boss,” Axton salutes before they jump back into their vehicle and drive away.

Meanwhile, Skies and her group are quickly covering ground through the Dust. They keep an eye on their tail, to make sure they’re not being followed. When they’re about halfway through the desert, Skies pats the cab.

“This is far enough, August,” she says, “stop the car.”

After he does so, everyone hops out.

“What are we doing?” Sasha asks, “this is the middle of nowhere.”  
“I know,” Skies replies as he grabs a grenade from her coat. “We gotta ditch the car.”

“What?” she exclaims but before anyone can argue, Skies tosses the nade and blows the technical to smoking bits.

“We go on foot from here,” she clarifies, “it’ll be harder to track us.”

“You could’ve given us a little warning,” Vaughn mutters as he dusts some debris from his shoulders.

“Don’t worry,” Skies says as they start walking. “We’re not far. And we would’ve had to walk the rest of the way anyway.”  
They trek though the desert, the hot sun beating down on them. Thankfully the journey is pretty quiet and they don’t run into any bandits, just a few spiderants that are easily dealt with.

After a couple hours, they arrive at what appears to be an old, rundown train station. They only guess that based on the tracks and the busted old train; the buildings are totaled beyond recognition.

“Okay, we gotta go down the tracks,” Skies says, “watch your step. Some of these boards are pretty rotted.”

“Where are we going again?” Sasha asks, “I don’t think you told us.”

“An old town called Lynchwood,” she replies, “it’s been completely abandoned since the sheriff died and the townsfolk went hog wild and killed each other. I stayed there for a while after Jack died but…there were too many memories.”

“Memories?” Vaughn questions.

Skies swallows hard, hesitating. “The sheriff was Jack’s girlfriend, Nisha. We were…friends.”  
“Of course you were,” Sasha scoffs derisively.

Skies is silent for a minute before clearing her throat. “A-anyway, she had her own personal fast travel station that she could use to visit Jack. If we can get it working again, we should be able to use it to get into Opportunity.”

“And if not?” August asks.

She shrugs. “We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.”  
“Please don’t mention burning bridges,” Vaughn whimpers as he warily eyes the long fall below them.

They walk quietly for a few moments. Nervously wringing her hands, Gortys constantly glances between the rest of the group and the unconscious Claptrap under Loader Bot’s arm.

“Uh-um,” she finally speaks up. “Could we reactivate Claptrap now?”

Everyone stops, looking at her with surprise before glancing between each other. Then Skies shrugs, “sure, why not. Just make sure he doesn’t run away, Loader Bot.”

Loader Bot rests him on the ground and reactivates him. He looks around for a second, confused, before shrilly screaming.

“Gah, I change my mind, turn him off,” Skies groans with annoyance as everyone covers their ears.

“You kidnapped me! You bot-napped me!” Claptrap shouts, pointing at them accusingly. “Villains! Baddies! Criminals!”

“You said you’d help us,” Vaughn points out.

“I never would’ve said that if I knew you were working for her!” he snaps, pointing at Skies, who just glares him with irritation.

“Working with, not for,” August corrects.

“You won’t get away with this!” Claptrap barks, “my friends will come save me! They’ll stop you! You’ll all be destroyed!”

“Gah, this is pointless,” Skies scoffs, “he’ll never help us now.”

“Hang on, I think I can fix this,” Sasha declares and approaches him. Kneeling in front of him, she takes his hands, immediately shutting him up.

“We’re sorry we kidnapped you,” she says, “we panicked. But we really do need your help. My sister has disappeared. She’s the only family I have left. You’re our only hope for finding her. Please, Claptrap.”

Claptrap stares into her big, green eyes and at his hands clasped in hers. Then he pulls one out and bashfully rubs the back of his chassis. “Aw, I can’t say no to you. You’re way to pretty-guh, I mean, family is very important to me.”

“You’re my hero,” Sasha chimes and Claptrap laughs.

“Nah, I wouldn’t go that far,” he says, “I’m just a good guy with good morals. Yup, that’s what everyone says about me. They say ‘that Claptrap is such a good guy’.”

Claptrap continues his claptrap as everyone starts walking again. August grins as he nudges Sasha’s shoulder. “Nicely done.”

She smirks. “Fiona’s not the only one who can manipulate.”

The sun has started setting when they finally reach their destination. They go through a train station into an old town nestled in the mountains. It’s eerily quiet, with just the wind serving as ambiance.

“It’s a ghost town,” Vaughn comments as they make their way past the bullet-hole riddled buildings.

“I told you,” Skies says, “Jack gave this town to Nisha as an anniversary gift. After she died, the Eridium mining was shut down and everyone went nuts.”

“An anniversary gift?” August scoffs, “don’t most guys give like chocolates or flowers?”

“Yeah, well,” she smiles wistfully, “Jack never did anything small.”  
She leads them through the town to Nisha’s old house. The roof over the porch is caved in, the windows have been completely shattered, and the door is hanging off one hinge. But the inside remains intact. 

“Okay, we can rest here for a while,” Skies declares as she cross the kitchen to the fast travel station embedded in the wall. She taps it a couple times and sighs. “Power to the town is out. We’ll have to turn it back on.”  
“Can we eat first?” Vaughn asks as everyone sits at the table. “I’m starved.”

“What is there to eat?” Sasha scoffs.

Skies searches through the cabinets before finding a bottle of Rakk ale and a can of beans. “Here we go. Ale and beans, the Pandora staple. Well, actually that’d be skag meat. I can go hunting if you want.”  
“Beans are fine,” August grunts and cracks the can open with a knife. Everyone takes turns scooping some out with their fingers.

“Humans are hopeless,” Loader Bot comments, “your reliance on sustenance will truly be your downfall.”  
Skies chuckles and he looks at her curiously. “What?”

“Nothing,” she replies, “just…Wilhelm used to say stuff like that. Man. Being here really does…dig up old memories…”

She looks around the house forlornly before her eyes fall on the bottle of Rakk ale and she snatches it.

“Welp, if no one else is gonna drink any, I’ll just help myself,” she declares before taking a swig.

“Is now really the time to be getting drunk?” Sasha scorns.

“Oh, Sasha,” Skies sighs, “you don’t get drunk off Rakk ale. You just get sad.”  
She takes another big swig as she lumbers out the door, leaving without another word. She collapses just outside, by the cliff side, and quietly drinks the ale as the sky darkens.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the robots turn the power back on in Lynchwood.

Chapter 8

In the abandoned city of Opportunity, a lone bandit leans against the railing overlooking the ocean. With mismatched eyes, he stares forlornly at Elpis. He would agree with most that with Helios gone, the view is much nicer. But he has many bad memories associated with Pandora’s moon, so it’s hardly comforting.

Sighing heavily, he takes a swig of Rakk ale, wishing the alcohol could wash away these bad feelings.

Far away, but not too far, Skies has the same view with the same drink but her feelings are very different.

Despite the bad memories, Helios was the first place she could ever call home. With it gone, the unobstructed view of Elpis leaves a lonely pit in her stomach.

“What about Old Haven?” she tells herself. “That’s home now. But…without Rhys…would I even be able to call it home?”

Sighing heavily, she takes a swig of Rakk ale, wishing the alcohol could wash away these bad feelings.

At the sound of movement, Skies looks back and watches as Loader Bot, Gortys, and Claptrap exit the house.

“The others have shut down for the night,” Loader Bot says, “will you join them?”

“Nah, I’m not tired,” she replies, “but while they sleep, we might as well go restore power to the town.”

After finishing off her drink, she tosses the bottle over the cliff and stumbles to her feet. “Let’s go, team,” she orders and marches through the town.

“Do you even know where to go?” Claptrap asks sceptically.

“Eehh,” Skies grunts noncommittally, “the power is probably connected to the only Eridium mining facility, so we’ll start there.”

“Sounds great,” Gortys chimes.

Skies leads the robots through the main street of Lynchwood to the Grinders around the outskirts. It’s eerily quiet; the whole area was once crawling with rats, skags, and bandits. Now there’s almost no sign of life, except for scattered skag piles.

“Hm,” Skies chuckles lightly, “one time Wilhelm and I came out here to see who the better fighter was. I have no idea who won because neither of us kept count. Ah, but it was fun.”

“Hmph,” Claptrap snorts, “yeah, it’s obvious you’re over Handsome Jack from the way you’re reminiscing about your time together.”

“Actually, that was about Wilhelm, not Jack,” she argues, “he had no idea we were out here.”

“Wow, what a rebel,” he comments sarcastically.

She looks back to glare at him but is quickly distracted by something approaching rapidly from the rear.

“Look out!” Skies exclaims, vaulting over Claptrap and kicking away a skag. It tumbles across the dirt and before it has a chance to collect itself, Skies tackles it, jams her pistol into its mouth, and blows its head to bits.

The robots stare at her with shock as she stands up, wiping viscera from her face.

“Ya-you…saved me…” Claptrap says, stunned.

“Don’t mention it,” Skies grunts.

They all turn at the sound of growling as more skags start emerging from their dens.

“Shit, musta woke them up,” Skies growls and grips her pistol. “You guys go on ahead, turn on the power. I’ll deal with them.”  
“I’ll back you up,” Loader Bot says, drawing his shotgun.

“No, you gotta stay with them in case any get past me,” she orders, nodding to Gortys and Claptrap.

“Will you be okay by yourself?” Gortys asks worriedly.

Skies grins. “Sure, they’re just skags. Besides, I can use the stress release. Now go!”

“Come,” Loader Bot orders and the three of them race off while Skies faces the herd of skags.

The robots hurry to the mining facility and look around. It looks like most of the equipment’s been destroyed and the Eridium looted, most likely during riots.

“There!” Claptrap exclaims, pointing to a tower with a large antenna on the roof. They hurry over and Loader Bot begins ascending the staircase.

“Aw, man,” Claptrap whines, “well, at least I’m not the only one who can’t climb stairs.”

“Nope, you are,” Gortys declares as she pulls one of her upgrade pieces from seemingly out of nowhere and puts it on, creating her thick legs. “Sorry.”

“Aw, man!” Claptrap whines louder as she chases after Loader Bot.

“Find it?” she asks as she enters the tower.

“I believe so,” he replies while he digs around in a control console. “Just have to do some minor repairs and…there.”

The console immediately lights up and the room fills with whirring. Outside, any undamaged machinery starts running again, as if there’s still Eridium to be mined and delivered.

“That should do it,” Loader Bot declares and they head back outside to Claptrap. “We better go help Skies-oh.”

They all look back at Skies as she approaches, dragging a dead skag along the dirt. Other than some tears on the right sleeve of her jacket and the right leg of her pants, revealing her robot limbs, as well as a minor scratch across her left cheek, she seems relatively unharmed.

The robots watch her until she’s reaches them and drops the skag body at their feet. “Got breakfast,” she announces proudly, “and I see you’ve got the power on. Nice work.”

“Thank you,” Loader Bot nods.

“Let’s get back to the others,” she orders as she hoists the skag back up. “We should leave soon.”

They head back through Lynchwood to the Sheriff’s house. Vaughn, Sasha, and August are still asleep inside so they stay outside while Skies begins carving the skag like a Mercenary Day turkey.

“Loader Bot, could you get some wood for a fire?” she asks. He nods and breaks some pieces off the fallen balcony roof. While he makes the fire, Gortys and Claptrap watch Skies cut what little pieces of meat she can get from the skag.

“Skags are mostly muscle,” she explains, “make them tough to eat. The best meat usually comes from the stomach though that’s also the grossest part to cut up.”

“You’re really good,” Gortys comments.

“Thanks,” Skies chimes, “I had to learn how to do this with one hand so it’s much easier now.”

Once she’s gotten as much meat as she can, she carves some sticks out of hunks of wood and begins roasting kebabs over the fire. The smell rouses Vaughn, Sasha, and August awake and they lumber out of the house.

“Morning, all,” Skies booms, “ready for breakfast?”

“Skag?” August questions as they sit around the fire, eyeing the skag remains.

“Yup. I make a pretty damn good skag kebab,” she replies, “y’know, for not having spices or other necessary ingredients for a decent meal. But we take what we can get out here in the Pandoran wilds.”

Once the meat is cooked through, Skies hands a kebab to the other humans and they chow down.

“So, Loader Bot got the power back to the town,” Skies explains, “so I think we should leave as soon we’re done eating.”

“Fine,” Sasha grunts, “tired of this boring place anyway.”

“Heh, well if you’re looking for excitement, I’m not sure Opportunity will work for you,” she remarks, “there’s no way there’s any more life there than here.”

“Whatever. As long as we can find Fiona and Rhys.”

After they finish eating, they dispose of the skag remains and the firewood over the side of the cliff and go back inside. Skies turns on the fast travel station embedded in the wall and sets it for Opportunity.

“Okay, who wants to go first?” she asks. Everyone stares at her expectantly. “Fine,” she groans and activates the machine. Her body dematerializes and teleports to Opportunity. One by one, everyone else follows.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew get to Opportunity and run into someone interesting.

Chapter 9

Two technicals speed through the Dust, beneath the night sky. Piled into one are Maya, Axton, Salvador, Zer0, Gaige, and Krieg. In the other is Lilith, Mordecai, and Brick with the Crimson Raiders trained skag, Dukino, hanging out the window, his maw open in delight.

They soon arrive on something suspicious: a mound of destroyed machinery, still smoldering in the sand. It’s barely recognizable as a vehicle. They pull over and Dukino sniffs the destruction, whining as he looks around in confusion.

“She destroyed their vehicle,” Lilith declares, “she’s trying to keep us off the trail.”

“So what now?” Gaige asks.

They watch Dukino’s odd behaviour for a second. He keeps looking from one direction to the other, like he can’t decide which way to go.

“Looks like she could’ve gone towards the northeast or southwest,” Axton observes, “guess we just gotta pick a direction.”

“Ellie’s place is over that way,” Maya points out, “maybe she saw something.”

Everyone agrees and gets back into their vehicles. They arrive at Ellie’s in a few minutes and walk into the junkyard. The large woman greets them right away.

“Hey, guys,” she chimes, “how’s it goin’?”

“Could be better,” Lilith replies, “Ellie, have you seen anyone suspicious lately?”

Ellie gives her a blank look. “Yer gunna have to be more specific.”

“We just found out Skies the Bodyguard is still alive,” Mordecai clarifies, “we’re trying to find her.”

“Ah, so the skag’s outta the bag, huh,” Ellie sighs, “yah, I knew already.”

“What do you mean, you know?” Maya questions, everyone looking at her incredulously.

“A while ago I found someone passed out in tha desert,” Ellie explains, “I brought ‘em back to the garage and didn’t realize she was Skies until she told me. I was ready to kill her but…”

“But what?” Maya asks, “did she attack you?”

“Nah, the exact opposite. She didn’t try to fight back or resist. She just sat there and…waited. And-I dunno. I couldn’t do it. She just looked…broken.”

“Tina said that exact same thing,” Brick muses.

“Well, she ain’t broken now,” Axton points out, “and she kidnapped Claptrap.”

“And that’s…bad?” Ellie questions.

“It’s the principle of the matter,” Lilith says, “Ellie, did she come back recently?”

“Yah, not long ago her new friends came lookin’ for a car,” she replies.

“And you just gave it to ‘em?” Salvador asks incredulously.

“They needed help. And I trusted her friends, not her,” Ellie clarifies.

“Did they say anything about where they were going?” Lilith asks.

“‘fraid not. Just that they were going to Sanctuary for help.”  
Everyone sighs with defeat.

“Okay, well, there was still that other direction her scent went,” Gaige points out.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Axton nods and they start to head out.

“Lil,” Ellie calls after them, grabbing Lilith’s attention. “If I was wrong about letting Skies go, I promise I’ll make her pay myself.”

Lilith hesitates with what to say for a second. “Don’t-don’t worry about it, Ellie. I don’t blame you. I know you would’ve killed her if you thought it was right.”

Ellie nods and Lilith leaves with the others.

They return back to the destroyed vehicle and continue on towards the southwest. Soon, Skies destination makes sense as they arrive at the train station.

“Lynchwood,” Lilith grunts, “of course.”

“Ay, the trains have power,” Salvador observes as everyone gets out of the vehicles.

“How did that happen?” Axton asks, “last time we were here, the whole town was dead.”

“She must’ve restored power somehow,” Maya muses.

“Least now we don’t have to walk,” Mordecai grunts as they climb aboard the train.

“Let’s hurry,” Lilith orders and they ride the train to Lynchwood.

Meanwhile, Skies and the others have just fast traveled to Opportunity. They appear one by one in a bedroom, which at one point was probably lavish and opulent, but has since been destroyed and looted.

“Nice place,” August comments drily.

“Too bad we missed the party,” Sasha adds.

Skies leaves silently and approaches the window in the destroyed den. From here, she can see the destruction that was wrought upon Opportunity after Jack’s death. The buildings are all intact but many of the windows are smashed and even from this distance, evidence of past gunfights is clear. It looks nothing like the golden beacon Jack dreamed of.

Skies stares out solemnly until she senses Vaughn approach.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah,” she replies and turns away. “Come on. We gotta go into the city. I don’t know what’s in there, so be ready for anything.”

Everyone draws their weapons and start to leave when Claptrap cuts them off.

“Wait!” he says dramatically, “I would like to say something.”

“What, you need permission?” August scoffs.

“Skies saved me from a skag attack earlier today,” Claptrap announces, “this has forced me to rethink my opinion on her. Therefore I have decided, she is no longer my enemy and as thanks for saving me, I will protect her with my life!”

“Oh um,” Skies stammers, flabbergasted, “that’s…okay. Thanks…?”  
“Now, let us continue with our quest!” he declares before rolling away.

“Hey, nice,” Vaughn smiles, nudging Skies as they follow. “One of the Crimson Raiders has accepted you.”

“Yeah,” she sighs, “guess I gotta start somewhere.”  
They leave the tower and cross the bridge to the city proper. It’s eerily quiet; not even the growling of skags can be heard in the distance.

“Oooh I hate this kind of silence,” Skies groans as she covers her ears, like that’s gonna help. “Reminds me of the time I spent alone. Maddening. Suffocating. Somebody say something to drown it out.”

“You seem to be doing an okay job,” August comments.

“I can’t believe how empty it is,” Sasha remarks, “I thought this place would be crawling with bandits.”  
“Yeah, it is odd,” Vaughn agrees.

“The controls for the bridge on the other side were destroyed,” Skies explains, “it wasn’t mindless destruction either. It was clean, like they knew what they were doing.”

“Maybe the Crimson Raiders want to keep people out,” Vaughn suggests.

“Maybe,” she agrees, slightly unconvinced.

Skies leads the group to Opportunity Square, to a building that used to be locked with a keypad. The door has long since been destroyed, allowing the group free access. Inside used to be a surveillance room but that too is ruined.

“This isn’t gonna work at all,” Sasha says angrily, gesturing to the broken monitors.

“Relax,” Skies grunts and goes up to an empty wall, placing her hand against it. A large scanner appears that scans her whole body before a secret door opens up.

“Whoa, cool,” August comments.

“This lab can only be accessed by mine or Jack’s bio-signatures,” Skies explains as they go down a set of dimly lit stairs. “That’s why I know it’s safe. No one can get in here.”

They enter a simple room with a large computer against the right wall, a couple of cabinets and shelves, a table, and a fast travel station across from them. But none of this is what stops them in their tracks. What does are the clothes sprawled out around the floor and the pile of fresh fruit on the table.

“It…looks like somebody’s been living here,” Vaughn muses.

“That’s impossible,” Skies argues, “no one should be able to get in here but me.”

“This drake fruit is fresh,” August points out, “this hasn’t been here since Jack died.”

“But…” Skies trails off, rubbing her head in perplexity.

“Whatever, no one’s here now,” Sasha says impatiently, “let’s just find Fiona and Rhys already. Claptrap, can you hack the computer?”  
“No problem,” he chimes and rolls over to the monitor. Sasha, Gortys, and Loader Bot follow him while August, Vaughn, and Skies mill about the room.

“Vaughn, seriously?” August groans as Vaughn bites a piece of fruit.

“What, I’m hungry,” he shrugs.

Skies ignores them as goes over to the clothes. She picks one up: an old Hyperion sweatshirt with rips and stains. Everyone on Helios had a shirt like this- even her.

“But it definitely looks like his size…” she mutters.

“Bad news, guys,” Claptrap says, catching everyone’s attention. “Server’s down.”

“What?” Sasha barks as she stares at the large blue screen. “Skies, you said this would work.”

“Aw son of a taint!” Skies snaps, throwing down the shirt. “I was really hoping Jack would have this place on a separate server. Shit, shiiiiiiit!”

“What now?” Vaughn asks.

Skies groans loudly, clearly agitated. “Well…there’s one more place we can go. I know it’s on its own server but…augh, it’s a pain in the ass though, for so many reasons. I really, really didn’t wanna go there.”

“Well, we got no other choice,” Sasha points out.

“Yeah,” she sighs, “okay. The only- well, not only but a major problem is that we need Jack’s voice and bio-signature.”

“Aw, man,” August groans.

“Maybe we can put together a voice modulator,” Vaughn suggests.

“No problem,” Claptrap chimes, “I am able to customize my voice and I have many instances of Jack speaking in my memory banks.” He’s silent for a second before speaking again, sounding exactly like Jack. “How’s this?”

Everyone stares at him, bewildered.

“Perfect, right?” Claptrap asks.

“Good god, that’s unsettling,” Skies cringes.

“But it should work,” Vaughn adds.

“Yeah,” she agrees, “now we just need his bio-signature. Maybe we can find something in his old office or at Lynchwood.”

“Gross,” Sasha comments.

“Let’s go, team,” Claptrap declares.

“Please change your voice,” Skies begs, “I can’t believe I’m saying this but I like your normal voice better.”

“Aw thank you. Er, I mean.” He’s quiet again before speaking in his default voice. “Thank you!”

“Alright,” she sighs and turns to the door. “Let’s go back to Lynchwood-.”

She stops as she turns the corner and comes face to face with Handsome Jack. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew meet an old Handsome Jack body double: Timothy Lawrence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So obviously I've changed Tim's story a lot from how it turned out in the games. This is mostly because I wanted him and Skies to become friends right away. But also I thought of this story before Borderlands 3 came out and I didn't wanna change it.

Chapter 10

A fight or flight response; everyone has one. An instinctual reaction when one’s brain feels it is in danger, to either fight or run.

Skies response has always been set to fight. Only twice in her life has it suddenly switched to flight. First, when Rhys told her that Handsome Jack’s AI ghost was living in his head. And now, when she finds herself face-to-face with Handsome Jack himself.

Skies jerks and backpedals before tumbling over Claptrap. At the same time, Vaughn, Sasha, August, and Loader Bot grab their guns and take aim.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” ‘Jack’ exclaims, raising his hands. “I-I know what you’re thinking, but I’m not Jack! Not at all!”

“Sounds like something the real Jack would say,” August says suspiciously.

“No! I-I was his body double,” he insists.

“Like that’s any better,” Sasha scoffs, “besides, all the body doubles were purged.”  
“I’m the only one who survived,” ‘Jack’ explains, “because I ran away from Jack long before that.”

“Nobody runs away from Jack,” Vaughn argues.

As they go back and forth, Skies watches, cowering behind Claptrap. She carefully looks over the supposed body double and notices quite a few differences between him and the real Handsome Jack. The major ones being that not only is he not wearing the mask, but he also doesn’t have the Vault symbol scar. But there are smaller things too.

His hair’s a mess and he’s wearing a ragged cloak over old, stained clothes. Definitely not Jack’s style. There’s also a Dahl SMG hanging from his hip. Not only would the real Jack never even touch Dahl weaponry, but this body double hasn’t even tried to go for it. Any sane person would know they wouldn’t stand a chance with these odds; and Jack always believed he had a chance.

But more than anything, he just doesn’t feel like Jack.

A lightbulb goes off in Skies’ head and she grins and stands up.

“Alright, alright, let’s everyone calm down,” she says as she moves between the body double and her crew. “Lose the murder-on, lower your guns. This guy isn’t our enemy. In fact, he’s the lucky break we’ve been needing.”

“What are you talking about?” Sasha asks as everyone apprehensively lowers their weapons.

“I told you we need Jack’s voice and bio-signature,” Skies explains, “well this body double has both those things. He’s perfect.”

She beams as she faces Not-Jack, who looks a little taken aback. “We could really use your help. All we need is for you to stand in front of a camera and say a password. Will you come with us?”

“Eehh, I dunno,” he replies hesitantly.

“We’ll pay you whatever you want,” she insists, “we just opened a Vault and we’re probably gonna get more treasure soon.”

Not-Jack apprehensively rubs the back of his neck as he considers it. While they wait, August leans in closer to Skies.

“Why you being so nice?” he asks, “let’s just force him to come.”

“You guys got the part where I’m trying to be a better person, right?” she retorts, “besides, he doesn’t deserve that. Look at him. He’s a kitten.”

“You just need me to say a password?” Not-Jack asks.

“That’s all,” Skies replies.

“And you’ll pay me?”

“Money, guns, clothes- whatever you want.”  
He still seems hesitant but he nods. “Alright.”

“Yeah!” Skies cheers, “alright! Now all we need is a vehicle.”  
“Oh, I got a bandit bus we can use,” Not-Jack replies.

“Sweet. This guy’s already paying for himself,” she remarks, “alright, kiddo, lead the way.”

“Eh, d-don’t call me ‘kiddo’,” he cringes.

“Ah, sorry. Bad habit,” she smiles awkwardly. “So, what is your name? Cause I’m not gonna call you ‘Not-Jack’.”

“My…name…”

“Yeah. You must’ve had one, right? Before you became this?”

“Yeah. It was…Timothy,” he replies, like he’s surprised to know that. “Timothy Lawrence.”  
“Whoa, whoa, back up!” Claptrap demands, cutting in between him and Skies. “Timothy rhymes with ‘Jimothy’.”

“What?” Skies questions incredulously.

“You’re that ‘Not-Jack!” he exclaims, pointing at Timothy accusingly. “The one that worked for Jack to save Elpis!”

“How-how do you know that?” he questions with surprise.

“I was there!”

“You’re that Claptrap?” he exclaims, “I thought you were dead! Jack shot you!”

“Ha!” Claptrap guffaws, resting his clamps on his sides. “It takes more than that to take me down.”

Timothy smiles with some uncertainty, like he’s not sure how to feel about this.

“Ahem,” Sasha says emphatically, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Can we get going?”

“Ah, r-right,” Timothy nods and leads everyone up the stairs. Loader Bot carries Claptrap to the top.

Skies smiles as she walks next to the ex-body double. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Timothy. I’m Skies. I was Jack’s bodyguard.”  
“Wow,” he remarks, “how did you survive?”

Her smile gets somewhat hollow. “Ah, it wasn’t easy. But the bigger question is how did you survive? I got lucky cause Jack’s dead. But you actually escaped from him?”  
“Yeah. It’s a long story,” he replies.

“Well, I’d love to hear it on our trip since it’s going to be a while,” Skies says, “so were you the one who put Opportunity on lockdown?”

“Yeah. When Jack died I figured it would make for a good hideout,” Timothy replies, “so I cleared it out and destroyed the bridge controls on the other side to make sure nobody could get in. Which reminds me, how did you guys get here?”  
Skies grins. “I know lots of Jack’s old secrets.”

Timothy leads the group through the city to the bridge, where a bandit bus is parked. After lowering the bridge, everyone gets in and August starts driving.

“So where am I going?” he asks.

“Thousand Cuts,” Skies replies, “know where it is?”

“Yeah, I think so,” he nods and everyone settles in as they begin the long drive through the Highlands.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew arrive to Thousand Cuts, but encounter a problem.

Chapter 11

Dukino’s snout runs along the dirt as he tracks Skies’ scent. Lilith and the Crimson Raiders follow close behind, warily eyeing the abandoned buildings of Lynchwood.

“Jeez, this place is somehow creepier than when it was full of murderous bandits,” Maya comments.

“Keep your eyes open,” Lilith orders, “she could be hiding anywhere.”

Dukino leads them straight to the old Sheriff’s house and stops. He snuffles at the ground for a second before looking around in confusion, as if he’s not sure where to go.

“This was the Sheriff’s place,” Axton points out.

“Then she must be hiding here!” Brick declares before rushing forward and crashing through the collapsed roof of the balcony and the front door. Everyone waits and watches with baited breath, until they hear his disappointed whine, “aw, no one’s here.”

The others enter through the hole he made and Mordecai spots something on the kitchen table. “No, but somebody was here not long ago.”

He picks up an empty can of beans and tips it over. Leftover sauce drips out, still fresh.

“So where’d they go?” Salvador asks, scratching his head.

“Check it,” Gaige says, tapping the fast travel station embedded in the wall. “A fast travel station. And it still works.”

“That must be why Skies turned the town’s power back on,” Maya muses.

“Where does it go?” Lilith asks.

“Um…” Gaige hums as she scrolls through the station’s menu. “Looks like the only working connection is Opportunity.”

“Ah, of course,” Axton nods.

“Let’s go,” Lilith orders, “and be ready for a fight.”

One by one they all use the fast travel station and teleport into Jack’s penthouse. They move cautiously through the building, guns at the ready, checking every corner, only to find it empty.

“Alright, Dukino,” Lilith says, “where is she?”

The skag sniffs around for a minute before trotting into the city. They follow him to a secret lab where it looks like someone is living, but no one’s there now. He doesn’t stay there long before he’s off again through the empty city and finally stops at the entrance.

“The bridge is down,” Axton observes.

“The controls on this side are intact,” Maya adds, “looks like whoever destroyed the controls on the other side did it so no one would be able to get in.”

“And Skies is gone again,” Lilith groans with defeat.

“She seems to be one step ahead,” Gaige comments, “think she knows we’re tracking her?”

“I think she is just/ very cautious by nature,” Zer0 replies.

“Dukino still has her scent,” Brick points out.

“Guess we better hit the nearby Catch-a-Ride,” Mordecai grunts, “who knows how long we’ll be driving now. Or where we’re heading.”

“Right,” Lilith nods, “let’s go.”

They head across the bridge, wondering where their prey has slipped to now.

Meanwhile, an exploded bandit bus has been abandoned by the entrance to Thousand Cuts. Vaughn, Sasha, August, Loader Bot, Gortys, Claptrap, Timothy, and Skies are making good time, walking through the mountain pass. 

Vaughn glances towards the back of the group, where Skies and Timothy are. “Those two seem to be getting along.”

“Well, they’ve got so much in common,” Sasha remarks drily.

“I think it’s cute,” Gortys comments, “they’re such good friends.”

Skies and Timothy don’t even notice them talking as they laugh amongst themselves.

“Oh-oh, and did you ever hear that one commercial he did?” Timothy asks, “with the accent?”

“Hear it?” Skies scoffs, “I lived on Helios. All they ever played were Hyperion commercials. I could probably recite that whole thing by heart.”

They both chuckle before saying in a bad southern accent, “hell! That’s why I bought the goddamn company in the first place!”

They double over laughing, gripping their sides. When the fit’s finally over, they sigh happily, wiping their eyes.

“God, he was such a jackass,” Timothy says, “I’m so glad he’s dead.”

“Heh,” Skies sighs awkwardly, looking away. “Yeah…”

He glances at her before leaning forward. “I still can’t believe you were his bodyguard. How’d you even survive?”

“Eh,” she shrugs, “I really didn’t do much. I was more like a badass cyborg assistant. I think he only made me his bodyguard so he could keep an eye on me. But you! You’re way more amazing. You actually ran away from him. At least when I quit he died like an hour later. How did you do it?”

Timothy leans back, rubbing his neck. “It was kind of a spur of the moment thing, I admit. I thought after everything that happened on Elpis, I could handle anything. But Jack…he got worse. Most days he was fine- normal, I guess. But sometimes he got…manic. Like even more than usual.”

“He got a few more body doubles and we all dressed the same and even wore the mask,” he explains, “but one day- just out of nowhere- Jack decided that wasn’t enough. We had to be just like him, in every way.”

Timothy pauses and rubs his face, and Skies stomach tightens, knowing where this is going.

“He started branding us,” he says, “he gathered us in a room like cattle and one-by-one strapped everyone into a chair to burn the Vault symbol into their face.”

“I was in the back of the group, just waiting for my turn. And I couldn’t take it. So, even though I knew it was crazy, I…ran. I used my old fast travel codes to get to Elpis and from there I stole a ship and escaped to Pandora.”

“That’s nuts!” Skies exclaims, “don’t you have like a bomb built into your face? He could’ve blown you up!”

“I know,” Timothy nods, “and for years I lived in fear of that happening. But he just never did. Maybe he didn’t notice I left. Or maybe he didn’t care. I dunno.”

“Jeez,” she sighs, “you must have balls of steel.”

He chuckles humourlessly. “Nah. If I was really brave, I would’ve helped the others. I only ran because I was scared.”

“Running from Jack is brave,” she insists as she looks up at the sky forlornly. “I was never afraid of him like everyone else was. But I could still never leave…not until the very end.”

Timothy looks at her curiously. Her expression seems so lonely, and he wonders what she’s feeling.

He looks away, rubbing his arm. An awkward silence fills the air.

Vaughn, Sasha, August, Loader Bot, Gortys, and Claptrap watch the whole thing from the front of the group and Claptrap says, “wow, they got some issues. I’m gonna go lighten the mood.”

He starts to roll up to them, but Loader Bot grabs his head and holds him back. “Leave them be.”

Claptrap stares up at him but doesn’t argue.

“Hey,” August calls out, grabbing everyone’s attention. “We’re here.”

Everyone looks forward as they exit the mountain pass into Thousand Cuts.

They all stop and look out at the surrounding scenery and Skies points at a large building on a cliff overlooking the whole area.

“That’s where we’re going,” she says, “Control Core Angel.”

“It looks like there are people down there,” Timothy points out as they see little silhouettes in the yard past No Man’s Land.

“Yeah…” Skies muses, “I thought it would be abandoned. Vaughn, can you see what they’re doing?”

“Yup,” he nods as he draws his sniper rifle and looks through the scope. After only a couple seconds, he blanches. “This…looks like bad news.”

Everyone passes the gun around to get a look and a feeling of dread washes over them.

The whole yard is full of people wearing Handsome Jack masks. They’re surrounding busts, statues, posters, and other merchandise. And in the middle of the yard is the largest statue covered in streamers.

“Jack worshippers,” Skies groans.

“Great!” Sasha barks, throwing her hands into the air. “Just great! Now what do we do? There’s way too many of them! We’ll never be able to get through them!”

“We have no choice,” she points out, “that building has the most powerful computer system on the planet. It’s the only one that can help us.”

“How do we know these bandits haven’t destroyed it or something?” August asks.

“Not possible. They’d never be able to get inside.”

“Neither will we, it looks like,” Vaughn sighs.

“It’s too bad we don’t have the real Jack,” Gortys says.

“What?” Skies questions.

“Well, we have a fake Jack but not the real one,” she explains, “if we had the real one, he’d probably be able to get us through.”

Everyone looks at her like she’s grown a second head- or even just one. Then they all turn to Timothy.

He flinches, knowing exactly where this is heading. “Oh no.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew fight their way to Control Core Angel.

Chapter 12

“Alright, lost the dirty robe,” Skies orders.

“Roll up your sleeves,” Claptrap adds.

“You don’t have the wrist tattoo? Does anyone have a pen?” she asks.

“Ditch the Dahl gun,” August orders.

“I can’t get his hair to stay up,” Vaughn complains, “where can we find some hair gel?”

“Hang on, I got it,” Sasha says and hocks a loogey into her palms.

“Oh, no, Sasha, do-ooooeeeewww,” Timothy whines as she runs her hands through his hair, shaping it as best she can into Jack’s well-known coif.

“And now, the finishing touch,” Skies says as she pulls Jack’s mask out of her coat.

“You have a Handsome Jack mask?” Timothy questions.

“Not just ‘a Handsome Jack mask’,” Skies scorns, “it’s the actual mask Jack wore on his chiseled face.”

He gives her a weird look, and so does everyone else.

“Don’t judge me,” she growls and places the mask on Timothy’s face. She pinches the clamps shut and everyone steps back.

“He kinda looks like Jack,” Vaughn shrugs, “if Jack spent months living in the wild.”

“Then it’s perfect,” Skies declares and faces Timothy. “Alright, Tim, here’s your motivation. You’re Handsome Jack. You faked your death in the Vault of the Warrior in order to get your enemies off your tail. Now you’re ready to begin rebuilding your empire and who better to start with than an army of your worshippers? I, of course, am your loyal bodyguard and everyone else is some randos you met in your travels. Got it?”

“I-I don’t know,” Timothy stammers nervously, “I haven’t acted as Jack in years.”

“You’ll do fine,” she insists reassuringly, “you were literally made for this. Now come on, let’s hit it.”

She shoves Timothy down the path and everyone follows. As they approach the Control Core, Timothy takes deep breaths and hypes himself up.

“Alright, I’m Handsome Jack. I am Handsome Jack,” he says, “I’m attractive, I’m full of myself, I’m an asshole. Woof, okay. I got this.”

Skies smiles as she watches him then looks back at everyone else. “I know this is gonna be hard for some of you- Sasha- so just keep your mouths shut- Claptrap- and let ‘Jack’ do the talking. Got it?”  
They all grumble more or less agreeably.

The Jack worshippers see them coming as they pass by what used to be the Competitor Deterrence Field. They slow to a stop as the worshippers gather in front of them; hundreds of Jack faces stare at them, muttering curiously amongst themselves.

“This is really creepy,” Gortys whispers.

Skies and the others look at Timothy nervously as he stares back at the large group, seemingly frozen. Then he takes a deep breath and obnoxiously clears his throat.

“Wow, what a crowd!” he booms, “I would expect nothing less. No, this isn’t some prank or trick. It’s really me: The Handsome Jack!”

The worshippers are eerily silent.

“Hey, I get it. You’re speechless. I don’t blame ya,” Timothy says as he starts marching forward like he owns the place. Skies and the others are so taken aback they have to hurry to catch up. The group of worshippers split around them, letting them pass. “See, I faked my death in order to get those bandit scums of Sanctuary off my ass. They’re worse than cockroaches. But I’m back, I’m well-rested, and I’m ready to get my revenge and rebuild my empire. And I thought who better to start with than a fashionable group like this one? Haha, get it? Cause you look like me!”

Skies smiles as she watches him. It’s almost like watching the real Handsome Jack. That’s giving her some mixed feelings, but she’s keeping them choked down for now.

As they pass by the worshippers and go down the Control Core loading dock, Vaughn spots something and gently tugs Skies sleeve. “Uh, Skies?” he whispers.

She glances at him and he points at the posters on the walls of the surrounding buildings. There are details on them; details they couldn’t see through the sniper scope; details that make Skies’ blood run cold. Details like fresh gunshot holes or the word ‘monster’. And as she takes a closer look around, she realizes that what she thought were streamers on the statues are actually strings of grenades. And that the group of ‘worshippers’ is closing up behind them, surrounding them.

Skies awkwardly clears her throat. “Uh, Jack?”

“Now I know this is probably a lot to take in,” Timothy continues ranting, ignoring her. “But you’ll have plenty of time to absorb it. I have some work I need to do in my old Control Core so you can think it over while I’m there. Not that you have a choice or anything.”

“Jack,” she says again, sterner.

“And don’t worry if you have no combat experience,” he goes on, “most of you will be cannon fodder anyway.”

Skies grabs Timothy’s arm and stops him in his tracks. “Tim, we screwed up!”

“Huh?” he questions, his Jack façade falling away. “Wh-what do you mean?”

They all look forward as someone approaches them. Just like everyone else, he’s wearing a Handsome Jack mask as well as a Hyperion sweatshirt with the word ‘Hyperion’ crossed out in red. He chuckles as he stops in front of Timothy.

“I can’t believe this,” he says, “Handsome Jack is actually alive? Some god must be smiling on me somewhere.”

“Uh,” Timothy croaks nervously as the group squeezes in closer. Skies, Vaughn, Sasha, August, and Loader Bot glare at them warily, readying their guns.

“Now,” the man continues, “I can fully exact my revenge.”

“R-revenge?” Timothy questions, “d-don’t you worship me?”

The group erupts into raucous, almost hysterical laughter. They split apart behind the supposed leader, leaving room around the largest statue in the dock. Up close, it’s obvious now that it’s covered in explosives.

“Hardly,” the man continues, “after what you did to me, your death by someone else’s hands just wasn’t satisfying enough. This event was supposed to be some form of catharsis, not just for me, but everyone who hates you. But now- now I can kill you with my own two hands.”

“Um,” Timothy croaks, stepping back.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” the man asks. He takes off his mask to reveal a face marred by burn scars that have sealed his left eye shut and continue down into his shirt. “I’m Mick Scabbers! I was one of the many mercenaries you hired to track down the Siren, Lilith! After I was hurt, I called and begged you to help me but you refused! Said I wasn’t worth your time! And that was after you rescued her!” he barks, pointing angrily at Skies.

“Wait,” she says with shock. “You fought Lilith and survived?”

“No, of course not,” Mick scoffs, “I was attacked by those Firehawk worshippers.”

“Okay, well, that’s the major difference between us,” she grunts.

“Shut up!” he barks, “Jack abandoned me! Left me like a used toy!”

“Yeah, he did that to everyone. You ain’t special.”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up! He will pay! I’ll kill him with my bare hands!”

“Wa-wa-wait!” Timothy cries, “I’m not really Handsome Jack!”

“You can’t lie to me!” Mick screams.

“No, really! I’m just a body double!”

“Liar! All the body doubles were killed after Jack died!”

“Exactly! Jack’s dead!”

“And yet here you stand!”

“Ye-bu-I-it-,” Timothy stammers uselessly.

“Besides, you have your bodyguard standing ready to protect you,” Mick points out.

“Ugh, I hate that my existence is so tied to Jack’s,” Skies groans, “but I’m not ready to protect him because I’m his bodyguard. I’m doing it because he’s my friend.”

“Aw, really?” Timothy coos.

“Well, yeah. I mean, if you’re okay with it.”

“Ugh, knock it off already!” August barks and shoves Timothy’s SMG into his hands. “We’re not getting out of here with words.”

“August is right,” Skies growls, “but because I’m trying to be a better person and all, I’m gonna give you this one chance, Mick. Let us through. This isn’t the real Jack and we have business in the Control Core that does not concern you.”

“Ha!” Mick snorts, “you think you can get through? You’re horribly outnumbered!”

Skies looks around and cocks her pistol. “I’ve gotten through worse.”

Without another word, she aims her gun and fires. But the bullet whizzes past Mick’s head and instead hits the statue behind him, setting off the bombs.

“Go!” Skies barks. While the Jack haters are momentarily distracted by the explosion, Skies and others race forward, firing their weapons into the surrounding group.

Mick dives out of the way just before they rush by and points at them. “Kill them! But leave Jack alive!”

“I’m not Jack!” Timothy barks, firing a spray of bullets.

“Try to stay together but do not stop!” Skies orders, “keep moving to the bunker!”

“We don’t have enough fire power for this!” Vaughn points out as he shoots his sniper rifle.

“Just focus on staying alive!”

Fortunately, most of the group was behind them so there’s no one blocking their way. But now they’re being chased by hundreds of Jack-faced lunatics, all with guns.

“I had a nightmare like this once!” Timothy exclaims as he shoots at them.

“I should’ve known these guys weren’t really worshippers!” Sasha barks, “who would worship Handsome Jack?’

“You’d be surprised,” Vaughn replies.

“Get to the stairs!” Skies orders.

They hurry ahead as she stops, grabs a couple rain grenades from her coat, and throws them.

“Grenade!” someone cries and much of the haters leap away. While they’re distracted and getting blown up, Skies catches up with her friends at the stairs leading towards the supply depot.

“Oh no, not stairs!” Claptrap cries, “my worst enemy!”

“Be silent,” Loader Bot orders as he picks him up and everyone hurries up the stairs and onto the depot’s road.

“We got no cover here!” August points out.

“Just keep moving!” Skies orders and tosses back a couple more grenades. Anyone who tried following them up the stairs immediately dive back.

They quickly arrive to the depot which is thankfully free of Jack haters. But they can hear the mob coming in hot. So they hurry through the yard.

“They’re catching up!” Vaughn cries.

“Quit looking ba-ah!” Skies shouts as a bullet whizzes by her ear. She looks back as the group round the corner after them and snarls.

“Keep going!” she orders as she ducks behind a wall. “I’m gonna bottleneck them!”

“By yourself?” Vaughn questions, “they’ll slaughter you!”

“Yeah, and besides, you’re the only one who knows the passcode!” Sasha adds.

“Relax,” Skies grins, “I’ll catch up.”

Vaughn is slightly hesitant but follows the rest of his friends through the depot. With her back pressed to the wall, Skies waits until the haters start trickling by and begins firing her pistol.

She downs five of them with perfect headshots before they stop on the other side of the wall, getting the picture. Skies quickly reloads her gun and waits for them to make a move.

A grenade bounces by, rolling to a stop. Skies gasps and dives away, taking cover behind some crates. After it goes off, she stands up and begins firing again as the group tries to advance. She downs a few more before someone throws another grenade right towards her. She shoots it in the air but the force of the explosion knocks her off her feet.

Skies grunts in pain as she hits the ground before sitting up and immediately firing again. But too much of the group has gotten past the wall for her to take out with just her pistol. She quickly reaches into her coat for another grenade only to come out empty.

“Shit,” she spits and scrambles behind some cover while she reloads. She aims over the boxes and continues to shoot much of the haters through their Jack masks, but they just keep swarming past the wall and firing relentlessly at her. She ducks back down and reloads as fast as she can before they catch up.

About five of them round the crates on either side. She snarls and lifts her gun, ready to shoot, when sprays of bullets knock them all down first. She looks up and across the yard at Sasha, August, Loader Bot, and Timothy aiming their weapons. And on a stack of crates beside them, Vaughn aims his sniper rifle.

“I thought I told you to keep going!” Skies shouts over the gunfire.

“We couldn’t actually leave you,” August retorts.

“Gortys wouldn’t let us,” Sasha adds.

“Besides,” Timothy says as he rushes forward and crouches down in front of her, offering his hand. “We’re friends, right?”

Skies smiles and takes his hand. He helps her to her feet and they both hurry back to the others. As they go by, Sasha, August, and Loader Bot run after them while Vaughn continues picking off the group with his sniper rifle. Then he hops down and follows.

Claptrap and Gortys are waiting for them at the end of the depot. They both jump and wave their arms frantically, telling them to hurry and cheering them on.

“Go!” Loader Bot orders before they pass. The smaller robots go on ahead as they exit the depot and race for the bunker. The Jack haters are chasing them again, their bullets whizzing by and hitting their shields.

“Just get to the bunker!” Skies orders.

They all dive through the open doorway into the building leading up the bunker. Skies whips around and shoots the door’s control panel causing it to slam shut.

“That won’t hold them long,” she says as they all scramble to their feet. “We won’t be safe until we’re in the Control Core. Come on, hurry!”

They race around the bunker as the haters bang against the door. They barely get halfway before an explosion blows through it.

“Aw, shit knuckles!” Timothy squeaks.

“Go, go, go!” Skies orders.

“We’re not going to make it!” Vaughn exclaims as they round the corner towards the closed door leading to Control Core Angel, the army of footsteps approaching quickly behind them.

“We’ll make it!” Sasha barks.

“Tim! Get in front of the door! We’ll hold them off!” Skies orders as she skids to a stop and turns to face the army of Jack haters. Everyone follows suit, except for Timothy who goes to the door.

“Preparing bio-scan. Please stand on the Hyperion emblem,” an automated voice says. Timothy looks at the floor in disgust, as it’s completely covered in dried gore, most likely from people trying to break in.

“Hurry, Timothy!” Vaughn cries as they all fire into the horde of oncoming enemies.

“You know, I’ve been wanting a chance to use this again,” Sasha says as she lowers her SMG and a large rocket launcher digistructs into her hands. She heaves it onto her shoulder and fires it into the crowd.

“Scanning bio-signature.” A blue light shines over Timothy as he rapidly glances from the door to the others and back at the door. “Bio-signature confirmed. Hello, sexy. Awaiting password.”

“What’s the password?” he shouts.

Skies ducks beneath some gunfire before replying, “I love you!”

“…is that the password or…”

“Yes, you moron!”

“Right!” Timothy squeaks and leans closer to the control panel. “I love you.”

“Access granted,” the voice says and the doors open.

“Everyone in!” Skies cries.

As Sasha fires one more rocket, everyone scrambles backwards. They all dive inside and the door slams shut behind them.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew discover Rhys' location.

Chapter 13

Vaughn, Sasha, August, Loader Bot, Gortys, Claptrap, Timothy, and Skies groan lightly as the lie on the metal floor. Faint banging can be heard on the other side of the door they just fell through before laser fire, quickly followed by screaming and then silence.

“Ugh, everyone okay?” Vaughn asks as he sits up, rubbing his head. “Anybody hurt?”

“Some scrapes and cuts, nothing we can’t handle,” Sasha replies.

“Yeah, good thing we got good shields from the Traveler,” August adds. 

“That was so scary!” Gortys cheers.

“It sure was,” Loader Bot agrees, patting her head.

“Woo,” Claptrap exclaims, “what now?”

Skies sighs heavily as she stands up and turns to the elevator in the middle of the small room. “This way.”

They all step onto the lift. After she presses the button, they begin a long, long descent down.

“Sasha, that launcher,” August says.

“Oh, yeah,” she smiles as she nudges the familiar rocket launcher resting on her shoulder. “Hope you don’t mind; I kept this after your mom died. Well, not that it would matter if you minded.”

He grins. “Nah. It suits you. I’m surprised you can lift it though.”

“I’m stronger than I look.”

They finally reach the bottom and cross a short hallway to a closed door, which opens automatically before them. They enter a hexagonal room with another short hallway that connects to a round room with a door to the right and a button in the middle.

“This…must be it,” Skies breathes tensely. She hesitates slightly before pushing the button and the door opens to the main chamber of Control Core Angel.

Everyone enters, looking around in awe. There’s a large device in the middle of the room with busted tubes that used to run into the ceiling. The air is stuffy and heavy and there’s a sense that something very bad happened here.

“I don’t like this place,” Gortys comments, pressing in closer to Loader Bot’s leg.

“What was this place?” Vaughn asks, “Skies?”

“A prison…” she whispers.

She stares at the broken Eridium injector, her breathing getting more and more rapid, until she doubles over. “Something’s…wrong.”

“What?” Timothy questions as everyone turns to her.

“Poison? A defense mechanism I didn’t know about?” she pants frantically as she squeezes her chest. “I can’t…breathe…”

“What are you talking about? There’s nothing wron-.” Sasha starts to argue but stops when Timothy steps by. He quickly approaches Skies and grabs her shoulder.

“Skies, listen to me,” he says, “you’re having a panic attack.”

“Wha-,” she croaks and looks at him. “J-Jack…”

“No, I’m not Jack, I’m-.” He stops and quickly removes Jack’s mask from his face, tossing it aside. “I’m not Jack, I’m Timothy. Tim, remember?”

“T-Tim,” she gasps.

“Right,” he smiles and gently eases her to the floor. “Tell me, what was this place? What happened here? Talk through your feelings.”

“Ang-Angel,” Skies pants and hugs her arms. “Jack-Jack held her here. Kept her…sucked the life out of her…like a battery. I…I should’ve helped her. I…couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything. I never could’ve helped her.”

Her breathing slowly evens out and she looks back at the Eridium injector. She slowly stands up and slips past Timothy, a lonely, exhausted expression on her face.

“Hey,” Sasha says as Skies walks back to the injector. “What are you-?”

She stops when Timothy grabs her arm. “Just leave her alone for now.”

They all watch silently for a second as Skies steps into the spot beneath the injector. She stares up at it before sitting down, curling up into a ball.

“Claptrap,” Vaughn says, breaking the silence. “Can you hack this place?”

“Oh. Yeah, right!” Claptrap exclaims, like he’s just now remembering that’s why they’re here. He quickly rolls over to a control panel in the wall and starts pressing buttons.

“Good news!” he chimes as the large screens hanging up by the ceiling turn on. “This place is on its own server.”

“Skies was right,” Vaughn smiles as everyone gathers by him. “So can you find Rhys?”

“Hold your horses,” Claptrap scolds, “it’s gonna take me a minute to get into the Hyperion employee list.”

“What kind of lab is this?” Sasha asks, “how is anyone supposed to work those monitors without a keyboard or something?”

“I don’t know,” Vaughn replies as he looks at Skies, who still hasn’t moved. “But something really bad must’ve happened here.”  
“I’m in!” Claptrap announces and everyone looks up at the screens to see a list of names.

“Hyperion must have thousands of employees,” August scoffs, “how are we supposed to find Rhys?”

“Claptrap, search for employee #213-70135,” Vaughn orders.

Everyone looks at him incredulously.

“What? Yeah, I memorised his employee number,” he snorts, looking away with embarrassment. “Whatever.”

Claptrap searches the number and the name ‘Rhys Strongfork’ appears at the top of the list.

“His last name is Strongfork,” August snickers, “I’m never gonna let him live that down.”

“I got his location,” Claptrap says as the screens change to show a world view of Pandora. It quickly zooms in on a blinking blue dot in the middle of the ocean.

“He’s in the ocean?” Sasha questions.

“Not quite,” Claptrap replies as the map zooms in even more, revealing the dot to be on a small island.

“How the hell did he get there?” August asks.

“Who cares,” Sasha says excitedly, “we know where he is now. And Fiona must be with him.”

“But how will we get to him?” Vaughn asks.

“Maybe Janey can fix up the caravan,” she suggests, “or we’ll take a buzzard or something. We’ll figure it out after we get out of here.”

“That’s another problem,” Loader Bot points out, “how do we get out of here? There is only one door.”

“Guarded by a horde of enemies,” Timothy adds hopelessly.

“We fought our way here,” Sasha says, “we can fight our way back.”

“We do not have the ammo to do that again,” Vaughn argues.

“There must be some other way out.”

While they argue, Skies slowly opens her eyes. She glances at them before looking across the room and standing up. She approaches the secret fast travel station embedded into the wall and taps it before turning on her ECHO communicator.

“Athena, you still at Helios?” she asks.

“Yes,” Athena replies.

“Is Janey with you?”

“Yes, she got here not long ago.”

“Would she be able to fix the fast travel station in Jack’s office?”

Athena’s silent for a second before replying, “she says she can check it out.”

“Cool, keep me posted,” Skies says.

“You know another way out?” Vaughn asks as they all approach her.

“Hopefully,” she replies, “this fast travel station connects only to Jack’s office.”

“Hopefully his isn’t too busted then,” Sasha remarks.

“Wait, you guys know…Athena and Janey…?” Timothy asks.

“Yeah,” she smiles, “they’ve helped us out a lot. Athena even beat the Traveler with us.”

“Wow,” he smiles weakly and rubs his head. “It’s…been a long time.”

While they talk, Skies walks up to where Timothy tossed Jack’s mask. She picks it up and stares at it for a second before slipping it into her coat.

She stares miserably at the floor for a second before taking a deep breath and spinning around. “Tim!”

“Huh?” he questions, surprised.

“Thank you for uh…helping me before,” she says.

“Oh. No problem,” he smiles, “I used to have panic attacks all the time. Still do, actually, heh heh…”

She smiles back weakly. “Yeah…I never had one before. No, wait, I guess that’s not true. Whenever I have nightmares- I guess when I wake up, I’m panicking. But it’s never been that bad before.”

She rubs her chest, staring at the floor. The others watch her awkwardly before she clears her throat and looks at the monitors. “So you found Rhys, huh? Nice work, Claptrap.”

“Thanks!” he chimes, “it wasn’t easy, but you found the right robot for the job.”

“More like the only robot,” she remarks, “but you really came through.”

“Yeah, it’s a good thing Rhys still has his old ECHO eye,” Vaughn comments.

“Yeah,” Sasha adds suspiciously, “why does he have that?”

“Um,” Skies mutters, “memorabilia?”

Vaughn, Sasha, and August stare at her questionably when her ECHO goes off.

“Skies,” Athena says, “Janey thinks she’s fixed it.”

“Thinks?” Skies questions.

“It’s hard to tell until someone tests it and we’re not gonna risk getting stuck somewhere in digistruct space.”

“Right,” she grunts, “okay, uh we’ll see you in a few seconds, hopefully.”

Skies approaches the fast travel station and taps the lens. It seems to respond normally but she still nervously steps back. “Hey, Claptrap. Why don’t you go first?”

“Okay,” he shrugs and activates the station.

“Hey, Athena, did Claptrap make it?” Skies asks after he disappears.

“Yes, and he’s completely intact,” she replies.

“Okay, cool,” she sighs with relief and faces the others. “Our escape awaits.”

“Good, let’s get out of here,” Vaughn says and one by one everyone digistructs away, leaving behind Control Core Angel.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew spend the night at Helios.

Chapter 14

Skies digistructs into the ruined hallway leading to Handsome Jack’s office. The floor is uneven and the ceiling’s caved in but it’s not bad considering. Athena is standing nearby, Claptrap wheeling around her in excitement. Next to her is a blonde woman sticking some supplies into a toolbox.

While Vaughn, Sasha, August, Loader Bot, Gortys, and Timothy fast-travel in one-by-one, Skies approaches the woman.

“Hi, you must be Janey Springs,” she says, “thanks a lot for the help.”

“No problem,” Janey replies as she stands up. “Happy to help for a good reason.” 

“So did you find Rhys and Fiona?” Athena asks.

“Sure did,” Claptrap replies, “they’re on some kind of island in the middle of the ocean.”

“Really? Wonder why the Vault would teleport them there,” she muses, “so how are you gonna get there?”

“Well, for that, we were kind of hoping for Janey’s help again,” Skies replies, smiling nervously.

“Do you think you can repair the caravan?” Sasha asks.

“You mean the one that went to space and back and through the guts of a Vault monster?” Janey questions incredulously.

“That’s the one,” Vaughn replies.

She rubs the back of her neck with uncertainty. “Well, I can look at it but no promises.”

“That’s all we ask,” he says, “we’ll figure the rest out later.”

“Good. Then let’s get out of here,” Athena grunts.

Everyone starts to turn away when Timothy clears his throat. “Athena? Springs?”

They look at him with surprise. “Are you…Not-Jack?” Janey asks.

He smiles awkwardly. “Er, yeah. But it’s actually Timothy Lawrence.”

Athena cocks her eyebrow. “So, what? You got the courage to be yourself after Jack died?”

He flinches. “Not exactly. I actually ran away from him a few years ago and have been in hiding since.”  
“You ran away from Jack?” she asks disbelief. “Damn, that does take courage.”

“Nah,” he sighs, lowering his head. “If I was half as brave or as smart as you, I would’ve left when you did.”

“Well,” Janey says, “all that matters now is Jack’s dead. So let’s restart.” She smiles and sticks out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Timothy Lawrence. I’m Janey Springs.”

Timothy smiles back and shakes her hand. “The pleasure’s mine, Janey.”  
Athena starts to smile until Claptrap hugs her legs. “Aw, it’s just like old times,” he chimes.

“Get off!” she barks, kicking him away.

“Yup. Just like old times,” he groans from the floor.

Timothy smiles and starts to say something but he’s cut off by multiple gunshots. Everyone whips around to see Skies shooting her pistol at the fast travel station.

“Hey!” Janey barks.

“Sorry,” she replies after it has been destroyed and pockets her pistol. “But that was the only connection to Control Core Angel. Now it’s locked down, as it should be.”

Janey huffs. “Well…alright, fine, I guess.”  
As everyone turns and starts to walk away, Timothy asks, “so, anything new with you two?”

Janey beams as she holds up her and Athena’s hands, both wearing gold rings. Timothy covers his mouth and squeals, “no way! Ohmygosh, congratulations!”

While they chatter excitedly, Skies lags behind a second and looks down the hallway. The door to Jack’s office has been mostly blocked off by rubble but it wouldn’t be hard to climb inside. She hasn’t been there since Helios crashed.

“Skies!” Vaughn calls back to her. “You coming?”

“Yup,” she replies and jogs after them. “Coming.”  
Later, everyone is gathered in what is considered the common area in the Helios ruins. Skies is busy roasting an adult skag over a massive spit while the others wait patiently for dinner. Many of the ex-Helios employees are nearby, attracted by the smell.

“It’s been a long time since any of them have had a hot meal,” Vaughn says.

“I know the feeling,” Skies remarks, “but there is definitely not enough meat on one skag for this many people. But if they were to bring me more skags, I’d happily roast them up.”

“You hear that?” Vaughn calls out to the bystanders. “Bring Skies some meat and she’ll cook it for you!”

“Yah!” they all cheer and run off, brandishing Hyperion pistols.

“Half of them aren’t coming back,” August says.

“Yeah, they’re kinda hopeless,” Vaughn sighs.

Sasha glowers at Timothy, Athena, and Janey, who sitting in their little corner, Claptrap hanging around them like a lost puppy. They’ve been talking since they reunited. Well, mostly Janey is talking while Athena and Timothy happily listen.

“Shouldn’t Janey get to work on the caravan already?” Sasha grunts.

“Lighten up, Sasha,” Skies scolds as she carves the meat off the roasted skag. “They haven’t seen each other in years. Let them have this.”

“But, Fiona-.”

“Can handle herself for one more night,” she insists, “Rhys too.”  
Sasha pouts but doesn’t argue as she takes her plate of meat and everyone digs in. They eat quietly, too hungry to make conversation. When they’ve finished eating, the sky is starting to darken and August stands up and stretches.

“Alright, I’m gonna find a hole to sleep in,” he says as he walks away. “Wake me if anything happens.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna get some sleep too,” Sasha agrees before leaving. So with Loader Bot and Gortys off by themselves somewhere, Vaughn and Skies are left alone with the dying fire.

“Do you…” Vaughn hesitates for a second before asking, “do you really think Rhys is alright?”

Skies looks at him, taken aback by the sudden question.

“It’s just…I thought I lost him once before and I was just barely coming to terms with it when we met up again. I’m not…I’m not sure I could handle that again.”

Skies watches him as he stares miserably into the embers and awkwardly rubs the back of her neck. “Erm, uh, I mean I’m sure he’s fine. At least I-I hope he is. I…I don’t wanna lose him either…”

Vaughn looks at her, surprised, as she now stares miserably into the embers. He does the same and they both sigh.

“You know,” Skies says, “after I found Rhys, he wanted to look for you. But we both needed a lot of work done. New arms, new eyes, a new leg for me. He wanted to get that done first, and I wanted to be sure he could at least defend himself. He missed you though. He talked about you all the time.”

Vaughn smiles warmly. “Yeah. I missed him too.”

She nods. “I know.”  
They continue to stare quietly into the dimming fire until their eyes start to hurt. Skies leans back, rubbing her left eyelid, when someone clears their throat behind her. She and Vaughn turn around to see the Helios refugees, split into groups of two or three, each with their own dead skag.

“Heh, wow,” Skies grins.

“Uh, good job, guys,” Vaughn comments, blatantly surprised.

Skies stands up, stretching her left arm. “Why don’t you try to get some rest, Vaughn? Looks like I got a lot of work to do.”  
He smiles weakly before standing up and leaving Skies to bark orders at the refugees. “Alright, everyone get into a single file line. No shoving! You’ll get your skag when it’s done.”

Meanwhile, Lilith and the Crimson Raiders have tracked Skies scent into Thousand Cuts. They stand at the end of the mountain pass and glare at the large building on the distant cliff.

Lilith snarls, “Control Core Angel.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and Timothy have a conversation.

Chapter 15

_Previously_

Rhys’ tongue stuck out with intense concentration as he dragged the pencil across the paper, trying to keep the lines as straight as he could. When he finished, he held the page out in front of him to examine his work. It was an admittedly crude drawing of a robotic arm; the blueprint for what would soon be his.

“Hm, it’s a lot harder to draw with one arm than I thought,” he commented. “Might need Skies to hold the page while I draw the eye. I wonder where she is.”

He left the room he claimed as his office and started to look around the old Atlas building for his roommate.

“Skies?” he called out. He was quickly answered by a frantic clattering and scrambling from the floor above. He hurried up the stairs to find Skies lying on the floor, half way out a door, struggling to fend off a group of spiderants with a broom.

“Urgh-hey, Rhys. You called?” she said.

“Skies!” he exclaimed and rushed over. Together, they shoved the spiderants back into the room and shut the door.

“What were you doing?” he asked worriedly.

“I wanted to clear them out,” she replied, “I can hear them skittering around in there. It’s so annoying.”

“You can’t do that by yourself, at least not until you get your new arm,” he pointed out. “There’s way too many. Why didn’t you ask for help?”

“I can handle it,” she insisted as she turned away. “Besides…I…didn’t want to bother you…”

Rhys sighed and smiled wearily. He stepped in front of her, squeezing her shoulder. She tensed up but didn’t pull away.

“I know you’re still getting used to the whole ‘having actual friends’ thing,” he said, “but this is what friends do. They ask each other for help, and they help each other for no reason. Right?”

Skies stared at him and nodded. “Right.”  
Rhys grinned and stepped back, waiting expectantly. “So? Do you wanna ask me something?”  
She chuckled weakly and took a deep breath. “Rhys. Can you help me get rid of the spiderants?”

“Of course!” he replied exuberantly. “There’s a box of grenades in the old storage room. I think we can blow them out the windows.”

“Oh, yeah! That’s a great idea,” Skies commented excitedly as they started down the hall.

“And once we’re done there, I need your help with designing the blueprints for our prosthetics. It is really hard to draw with one arm.”

“Tell me about it.”

\--

_Now_

Skies smiles warmly as she stares at the Pandoran night sky. She’s curled up between the legs of the old Handsome Jack statue, gently rubbing her robot arm, lost in her memories. But at least they’re good memories, unlike usual.

“Hey.” She’s knocked from her train of thought by Timothy’s voice as he approaches from the main Helios wreckage.

“Hey,” she replies, “done reminiscing with your old friends?”  
“Janey wanted to get some sleep before she gets to work on the caravan,” he explains.

“You don’t wanna get any sleep?”

“Mmmm,” Timothy groans apprehensively. “Not tonight.” 

“Yeah,” Skies nods and looks back at the sky. “Me neither.”

“Nightmares?”

She looks at him with surprise as he sits on the ground against the base of the statue. “You mentioned you have them,” he clarifies, “I do too. Same one every time. I’m strapped to a chair and Jack is standing over me, next to that…branding machine. It gets closer and closer, the metal brand glowing red. I can almost feel the heat on my face. And then I wake up.”

Skies watches him for a second as he stares at the ground, rubbing his face. Then she looks up and sighs.

“My dream always ends with me trapped in a void, surrounded by Jack’s laughter,” she explains, “when I wake up, it always takes me a few minutes to remember where I am and that…he’s dead.”

Timothy looks up at her. She has that unreadable expression on her face again. If he had to, he might describe it as…conflicted.

Skies catches him staring and quickly clears her throat. “But uh, hey! Nightmares aren’t so bad. You know, Rhys would always end up sleepwalking. It got so bad, we had to keep the door locked at night so he couldn’t run away.”

Timothy chuckles awkwardly. “Wow, that-that is bad.”

“Heh, yeah.”

A heavy silence hangs over them as they stare at the sky.

“Uh so, tell me about Rhys and Fiona,” Timothy says, trying to break the awkwardness. “They must be pretty important for all of you to try and find them like this.”  
“They are,” Skies nods, “I mean, Fiona’s cool and all but- and don’t tell Sasha I said this- I’m really only worried about Rhys.”

She squeezes his right hand to her chest. “He…saved me. In more ways than one. He showed me what it’s like to have friends. Like real friends. Friends who actually care about you and help you without expecting anything in return.”

“Sounds like a great guy,” Timothy comments.

“He is,” she nods, “I was able to be…relaxed around him. I could never relax around anyone.”  
“What about now?”

“Wh-now? What-like…with you?”

“Well, not just me,” Timothy says quickly, “I mean with any of these people. You all seem to get along pretty well.”

“I-I guess,” Skies replies with uncertainty. “I haven’t thought about it. So I guess I am relaxed around them. Does that mean we’re really friends? Do they think of me as a friend? I mean, how do you know when you’re really friends with someone?”

“I…I’m not really sure,” Timothy says, “I guess if they’re all the things you described before. You know, they care about you, they help you.”

“Huh,” she muses and looks at him. “We’re friends, right?”

He looks up at her and nods. “Yeah, I think so.”  
She smiles. “Me too.”  
He smiles back.

“Oh my god, you two are so awkward.”  
They both nearly leap out of their skin and look around the statue to see Claptrap standing there, staring at them.

“How long have you been there!” Skies demands.

“Since you started going on and on about that guy, Rhys,” he replies, “like jeez, it’s like you’re in lov-.”

Before he can finish, Skies tackles him into the dirt.

“Never! Sneak up! On me!” she barks emphatically, slamming him into the ground by his antenna.

“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry!” he begs.

Skies lets him go and steps back, dusting herself off. As she takes a couple of calming breaths, she checks the time on her ECHO device.

“Alright, I’m gonna wake everyone up,” she declares, “we should get to work and I’m sure Janey will need help.”

“I’ll join you,” Timothy says and together they walk back to the Helios wreckage, leaving Claptrap to pick himself up out of the dirt.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith and the Crimson Raiders are hot on Skies' trail.

Chapter 16

Lilith and the Crimson Raiders make their way through Thousand Cuts, across No Man’s Land, towards Control Core Angel. Lilith stops as they enter the Hyperion base, hesitating as she looks up at the building on top of the cliff.

“You alright, Lil?” Mordecai asks.

“Yeah,” she sighs and continues walking. “Let’s just find her.”

The crew make their way through the base, eyeing the many bodies littering the road. There was clearly a big fire fight here recently, but that’s not the most disturbing thing.

“Why are they all in Handsome Jack masks?” Gaige asks, prodding a corpse with her foot.

“Who knows,” Axton replies, eyeing the Jack posters hung up on the surrounding buildings. “This whole place is weird.”

“Keep an eye out for anyone from Skies’ crew,” Lilith orders, “maybe they got taken out in the fight.”

They don’t recognize any of the corpses however as they make their way through the loading dock. They don’t see any living either, until they near the Bunker and start to hear voices.

“Careful,” Lilith warns. They cautiously go around the Bunker and stop as they near the entrance to Control Core Angel, where a large group of people are gathered.

“Stop trying the door!” one of them barks, “the security lasers will just keep shooting. We’ll just wait here until they leave. They have nowhere else to go.”

One of the group notices the Crimson Raiders and shouts, “boss!”

The whole group turns, revealing that they’re all in Handsome Jack masks.

“Well, that’s disturbing,” Axton comments.

The ‘Jacks’ ready their weapons. The Crimson Raiders do the same.

“Hold!” their boss orders and exits the crowd. “You’re the Firehawk.” 

“That’s right,” Lilith nods suspiciously.

He lifts his mask, revealing his burned face. “Do you know who I am?”

“Um….no…”

“I am Mick Scabbers!” he snaps, offended. “You’re part of the reason I look like this!”

“I did that to you?” Lilith asks.

“No, one of your cult members, because I was sent to assassinate you!”

“Oh. Uh, well…sorry, I guess,” she shrugs, “but I’m not responsible for what my old cult did. Besides, we took care of them a while ago.”

“No, no, no!” Mick snaps impatiently. “You were their leader; you should’ve led them properly! I blamed Jack for not helping me when I needed it, but you’re just as much to blame. I will make both you and Jack pay for what happened to me!”  
“Look, dude, it sounds like it’s your fault for wanting to assassinate her in the first place,” Axton argues. 

“Yeah, besides, Jack’s already dead,” Maya adds.

“No, we saw him with his bodyguard!” Mick insists and points at the control core. “They’re trapped in there now and when they leave, we’ll destroy them!”

“With his bodyguard?” Brick questions.

“So she is in there,” Lilith says.

“Yeah, but we can’t get in,” Gaige points out.

“I can,” she argues, “you guys just stay here.”

“Be careful, Lil,” Mordecai warns.

She nods before disappearing into her Phasewalk. She passes through the walls right to the main injector room before reappearing.

It’s completely empty with no sign of how anyone would’ve gotten out. But the computer screens are on, showing a map with a blue dot on an island in the middle of the ocean.

Lilith copies the information to her ECHO device and Phasewalks again. She reappears back outside, in the middle of a fire fight.

“Ah, jeez!” she exclaims and ducks around the corner where the Crimson Raiders are. They’re all shooting at the Jack haters, who are shooting right back.

“What happened?” Lilith asks.

“That Mick guy completely lost it when you disappeared!” Mordecai replies, “ordered his crew to open fire.”

“Ugh, we don’t have time for this,” she groans, “let’s just get the hell out of here!”

“Did you find Skies?” Maya asks as they start backing away.

“No, but I think I know where she’s going,” Lilith replies, “I copied the coordinates to my ECHO. Brick, we’re gonna need your buzzards.”

“Hell yeah!” he cheers and they quickly retreat.

When the shooting stops, the Jack haters lower their guns.

“Sir, I think they’ve left,” one of them points out.

“After them,” Mick orders, “I will have my revenge.”

“What about Jack and his bodyguard?” another asks.

“We’ll worry about them later,” he replies, “first, the Firehawk.”

Meanwhile, at Helios, Janey has spent the last few hours working on the caravan. Skies, Vaughn, Sasha, Athena, and Timothy help how they can, mostly with bringing her supplies. Finally, as the sun just starts to peek over the horizon, Janey rolls out from underneath the vehicle.

“Well, she ain’t pretty,” she comments, wiping off her hands, “but she’ll fly.”

Only the shape of the caravan is recognizable. It’s now mostly held together with different pieces of scrap metal scavenged from the crash site. Even the inside has been completely remodeled, now with just seats to make it lighter.

“Our poor caravan sure has been through a lot,” Sasha sighs.

“Yeah, just like the rest of us,” Vaughn adds.

“Let’s go,” Athena orders, “we’re finally on track to finding Fiona and Rhys.”

“All aboard who’s going aboard!” Skies announces as she follows Athena inside, along with Sasha, Vaughn, Loader Bot, and Gortys.

“I’m coming too,” Timothy declares as he steps through the door.

“Really?” Skies questions, “you sure?”

“Yeah,” he nods, “I’m kind of invested in this now. I wanna see how it goes. I mean, if that’s okay with all of you.”

The others mostly nod indifferently but Skies smiles. “Yeah, that’s awesome.”

Timothy smiles back. 

“I’m coming too!” Claptrap exclaims and throws himself through the door.

“Oh,” Skies grunts apathetically. “Cool.”

Everyone takes a seat and straps in as Sasha starts up the engine.

“Okay, let’s hope this thing really flies,” she says and activates the thrusters. Slowly, jerkily, but surely, the ship lifts higher and higher into the air.

“Alright,” Skies cheers.

“Is this a bad time to mention my fear of heights?” Timothy questions, gripping his seat.

“I think you should be more worried about crashing,” Vaughn points out.

“Don’t worry, guys,” Sasha grins, “she handles like a dream.”  
She hits the gas and, with one final big jerk, the caravan takes off into the sky, leaving Janey to wave after them, crossing her fingers.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew arrive to a mysterious island.

Chapter 17

“Y’know, I spent most of my life traveling through space on an old, rickety ship,” Skies says, “there was a lot of turbulence and whenever I had to go to a planet, I was always worried it would break apart in the atmosphere. But it still never made me as queasy as this ride.”

She hugs her stomach as she doubles over, moaning lightly.

“Yeah, this feels more like a paint shaker than a ship,” August agrees.

“I’m more worried about crashing than throwing up,” Vaughn comments.

Timothy doesn’t say anything from where he’s curled up in his seat, eyes squeezed shut. Athena doesn’t either; just remains perfectly stoic.

“This is why humans are fundamentally flawed,” Loader Bot comments.

“Yeah, this is fun,” Gortys adds. 

“I’d enjoy it more if I could stand up,” Claptrap says and tries to lift himself up, but the constant shaking causes him to topple over again.

“Would you all quit your complaining!” Sasha snaps from the driver’s seat. “We’re almost there.”

“Ugh, thank Jack,” Skies groans.

They near an island in the middle of the ocean, almost completely covered by thick trees. Sasha lands the caravan on the nearest coast, the only part not full of foliage. Everyone immediately dives out the door in relief.

“Oh, sweet, sweet ground,” Timothy cries, burying his face in the sand.

Skies eyes the thick trees ahead of them curiously. “What is this place?”

“No idea,” Sasha replies.

“Let’s go,” Athena orders, “everyone, stay close.”

The group gathers together and step into the trees. They have to duck under branches and step over thick roots as they progress. It’s eerily quiet; no sound of wildlife or any kind of life. It’s actually more unsettling than the alternative.

“Ugh, more silence,” Skies groans, pressing her hands into her ears.

“Why would Rhys and Fiona get sent here?” August asks, “is there even anything here?”  
“We don’t know yet,” Athena points out, “we just got here ourselves.” 

“I don’t know what’s here,” Skies says, “but something big definitely happened at some point. I can feel it.”

“That’s creepy,” Sasha comments.

They continue on, carefully watching the shadows for anything. After a couple minutes, Skies takes a step and stops, noticing the ground suddenly feels different. She looks down and drags around her foot.

“Cement,” she says.

Everyone looks up and sees, almost hidden away in all the trees, a large sign. Most of the faded letters have faded away, but just enough still remain to read what it used to say.

“At…las…Go-something…Research Facility,” Timothy reads.

“This island was an Atlas facility?” Sasha questions. 

“I never knew about it,” Athena remarks.

“Well, something happened here that made it abandoned,” Skies muses as they pass the sign.

As they follow the old, broken path, it’s quite clear that this facility has been abandoned for a while. There are metal buildings on either side of them, all covered in moss and vines from the overgrown trees. Some of the windows are even smashed from the branches. But whatever caused the Atlas workers to leave is not apparent.

“Jeez, this is…kind of spooky,” Vaughn comments, chuckling warily.

“Relax. There doesn’t seem to be anything alive here,” August says.

“Except for Rhys and Fiona,” Sasha argues.

“Hopefully.”  
As they pass a nearby building, Skies gets a sudden chill down her spine. She spins around and spots a security camera on the wall. It’s looking at them but it doesn’t appear to be working. Still, it makes her feel like someone is watching.

“What’s wrong?” Timothy asks.

“I don’t know,” she replies, “probably something.”

“It’s always something,” Athena grunts.

“Let’s just find Fiona and Rhys already and get out of here,” Sasha demands.

“How?” They could be anywhere,” Vaughn points out.

“Let’s split up,” Skies suggests, “one group can cover the north side of the island, the other group can do the south.”  
“Fine,” Athena nods.

“How do we decide the groups?” August asks.

Everyone considers the question for a second.

“Oh, oh I know!” Gortys chimes, “let’s all pick numbers between 1 through 10. Whoever chooses 1 to 5 is in the first group and 6 to 10 is in the second group.”

“Good idea, Gortys,” Skies comments.

“Okay, everyone, type your number on your ECHO device,” Athena orders, “then hand them to me and I’ll sort the groups.”

Everyone does so and Athena quickly goes through them before handing everyone back their ECHO.

“Okay, group one is me, Sasha, Vaughn, and Loader Bot,” she explains, “group two is Skies, Timothy, August, Gortys, and Claptrap.”

“Wow, that worked out pretty well,” Skies comments, playfully nudging Timothy.

“Yeah!” Claptrap cheers, wrapping his arms around their waists.

“Kind of,” Timothy adds drily.

“Okay, if anyone sees anything, call immediately on your communicators,” Athena orders. “Otherwise, meet back here at sunset.”  
Everyone nods and the two groups split up.

Skies and her team head down a side path. They examine the buildings as they walk by curiously. If there was ever any indication what each one was for, they’re long gone now.

Everyone’s quiet and tense as they walk. They’re not sure what they’re waiting for- if anything- but the silence has them all unsettled, even the usually bouncy Gortys.

A green leaf suddenly drifts down onto the path. Gortys and Claptrap pay it no mind as they pass, but Skies, Timothy, and August glare at it. They suspiciously eye the surrounding branches, hands resting on their guns.

Something big flies across the path behind them. It’s subtle, but Skies senses it, her eyes narrowing.

It charges them from behind, quick and quiet. However, before it can strike, Skies whips around and slams her metal face into its face, knocking it to the side.

“What the hell is that?” August exclaims as the creature hops onto its feet. It’s tall and insect-like, a mix between mechanical and organic. More emerge from the shadows, surrounding them.

“Guardians,” Skies and Timothy hiss.

Meanwhile, Athena and her group march steadily down the opposite path. Athena and Loader Bot stare ahead, unperturbed, but Sasha and Vaughn look around anxiously.

“There are so many buildings,” Vaughn comments, “what were they doing here?”

“Probably live experiments or something equally evil and disgusting,” Athena replies scornfully.

“Right. I forgot how much you hate Atlas.”

“Yes. Which is why I don’t understand how I didn’t know about this place.”

“Well, even if you didn’t massacre them,” Sasha says, “something must’ve wiped them out.”

Athena’s ECHO communicator suddenly goes off, startling Sasha and Vaughn. “Ugh-ack! Uh, Athena, you copy?” Skies asks.

“Go ahead,” she replies.

“So uh- shit! I got good news and bad news. The good news is this place definitely has something to do with the Vaults, so Rhys and Fiona are here somewhere. The bad news is-ah! Um the-the bad news is-.”

“Guardians,” Athena snarls as she draws her pistol.

“Y-yeah. Uh, how’d you know?”

Loader Bot grabs his rifle and Sasha and Vaughn watch in terror as the insectoid creatures emerge from the trees.

Athena scowls. “Intuition.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crimson Raiders finally catch up with Skies.

Chapter 18

Three buzzards fly across the ocean, carrying Lilith and the Crimson Raiders. She carefully watches the map on her ECHO device, making sure they’re going the right way, as they approach an island.

“Look!” Mordecai exclaims, pointing to a flying vehicle parked on the coast. They land the buzzards nearby and examine it.

“What a piece of junk,” Gaige comments.

“It is empty,” Zer0 observes. 

“They must be on the island,” Lilith says.

“Wait, listen,” Axton orders.

Everyone’s quiet for a moment and they hear gunfire in the distance.

“Gunshots,” Maya states as everyone draws their weapons.

“Sounds like we’re late for the party,” Salvador grins.

“Meat,” Krieg chuckles darkly and everyone jogs into the trees. They only make it a short distance before they’re ambushed. Shock blasts hit the ground at their feet, narrowly missing them as everyone leaps backwards.

“Guardians!” Maya exclaims as the insectoid creatures emerge from the shadows.

“Some party,” Mordecai scoffs and they open fire.

Meanwhile, not too far away, Skies, Timothy, August, Claptrap, and Gortys race around the trees and buildings. They dodge the guardians’ attacks while firing off some of their own, their bullets barely wounding the creatures.

“Gah! What are these things?” August snaps.

“Guardians! They guard the Vaults,” Claptrap replies.

“This is the first time I’ve seen them in person,” Skies remarks.

“Not me and I’m not a huge fan,” Timothy adds.

“What do we do?” Gortys asks frantically.

“Just keep moving!” Skies orders.

They continue rushing around the abandoned facility but are forced to skid to a stop. Five guardians are standing in their way, blocking them off. They try to go back but four more jump down, surrounding them.

“Aw, crapsicles,” Timothy squeaks.

Skies snarls and starts to draw a grenade from her coat. But before she can throw it, the guardians attack. They all fire electrically charged blasts. Skies, Timothy, and August do their best to dodge but there’s nowhere to go and they’re all hit. They cry out in pain as the shocks travel through their bodies before collapsing.

Claptrap and Gortys remain unharmed, the guardians seemingly uninterested in them. They just watch in horror as their friends pass out around them.

The guardians chitter with satisfaction before approaching. Claptrap and Gortys look up at them in a panic as they get closer and closer. Then Claptrap spots the grenade Skies had in her hand.

He quickly grabs it, pulls the pin, and shouts, “I’m a Vault Hunter too!” as he tosses it into one of the groups. It goes off, splitting into multiple smaller grenades which also explode.

Most of the guardians are taken out in the blasts and the survivors are startled into backing away, giving the robots a chance to escape.

“Grab August!” Claptrap orders as he pulls both Skies and Timothy onto his head.

“Ah, o-okay!” Gortys squeaks and hoists Augusts onto her head.

Together, the two robots make a break for it, dragging their unconscious friends away from the remaining guardians.

“We need a place to hide,” Claptrap whimpers and spots a door with a glowing control panel. “Here!” He skids to a stop, pushes the button, and the door jerks open, dust falling away as it slides into the wall. “Inside!”

Gortys follows him inside and he quickly closes the door.

The building is small, just one room with no windows. There’s one large computer that appears to be on standby, the blank screen dimly illuminating the room.

Claptrap and Gortys lay their friends on the metal floor. All three of them remain unconscious and unresponsive.

“They’re not waking up,” Gortys points out.

“I know,” Claptrap replies.

“What do we do?”

“I don’t know!”

They both cry out in a panic and race around in circles, exclaiming, “what do we do? What do we do?”

Suddenly, a compartment on the computer console opens up and something flies out. It hits Claptrap in the head, interrupting his fit. When he stops to look at it, he exclaims happily.

“Insta-health!” he squeals and picks up three syringes.

“Huh?” Gortys questions.

“Here! Stab this into August’s neck,” Claptrap orders.

“Wha-! But I don’t wanna hurt August,” she argues.

“No, no, this will help him!” he insists, “just do it, hurry!”

Gortys hesitates but obliges and jabs the syringe into August’s neck while Claptrap does the same for Timothy and Skies. Immediately, the three of them gasp awake and shoot up.

“You’re okay!” Gortys cries happily, hugging August. 

“Ugh, my head,” Skies groans and looks around. “Where are we?”

“We saved you,” Claptrap states as he and Gortys stand proudly before them. The three of them stare at the robots with shock.

“Really. Well, uh…good work, then,” Skies comments.

“Thanks,” Gortys chimes.

“Alright, what now?” August asks as they stand up.

“We gotta find the others,” Skies replies.

They all perk up at the sounds of gunshots just outside.

“Oh, maybe that’s them,” Timothy says and opens the door. Outside they see the guardians getting shot at before Brick bursts out of the trees and punches one in the head. He turns towards the open door and spots them.

“Found ya!” he exclaims.

“Brick!” Skies squeals.

He charges them, laughing victoriously.

“Close it, close it!” Skies cries, frantically slapping at Timothy’s hand before hitting the control panel. The door slams shut just as Brick swings his fist. He hits the door, denting the metal inches from Timothy’s face.

“Whoa,” he peeps.

Before Brick can have a chance to open the door, Skies shoots the control panel with her pistol. They soon hear him cursing outside.

“Who is that?” Timothy asks.

“Let’s just say for now, he really doesn’t like us,” Skies replies, “well, me. Mostly me.”

“How did they find us?” August asks.

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” she says, panicked as she grips her head. “Argh, I don’t what to do! We’re trapped and Brick’ll smash through that door in no time.”

As if to prove her point, Brick punches the door again, creating another dent and making everyone cry out in fear.

“Oh, what did I get myself into,” Timothy whimpers as he backs away.

“We’re gonna have to fight our way out,” August says.

“I don’t like our chances but you’re right,” Skies nods.

They ready their weapons and wait tensely for Brick to break through the door. But then they hear an odd scraping, like metal on metal.

“What’s that?” Skies asks as they look around.

“Look!” Gortys exclaims, pointing at the floor. A small section has shifted, revealing an open space beneath. It scrapes against the rest of the floor as it tries to open wider.

“A secret door?” Skies questions as she and the boys quickly kneel down and pull it the rest of the way open. Beneath is a dark tunnel that goes straight underground.

“I can’t see where it goes,” Timothy says, “what if it’s dangerous?”

They all jump as Brick punches the door again.

“I’d rather deal with whatever’s down there than Brick,” Skies declares.

“Okay, so who’s first?” Claptrap asks.

To answer, Skies pushes him into the hole. Then, with reckless abandon, everyone else jumps in after him and the door, seemingly on its own, slides close.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew discover some interesting things on the island.

Chapter 19

Athena, Vaughn, Sasha, and Loader Bot race around the Atlas facility, avoiding the attacks of Guardians. Loader Bot and Athena manage to keep them at bay with their rifles and Athena’s shield, while Vaughn and Sasha cower in between them.

“I saw these creepy things when Fi and I were in the Traveler,” Sasha says, “what are they?”

“Guardians,” Athena replies, “they guard the Vaults.”

“There’s so many of them,” Vaughn remarks.

“Yeah, they’re a pain in the ass.”

“We need time to regroup,” Loader Bot says.

They continue moving for a few moments when Vaughn spots a light from a door’s power console.

“Look!” he exclaims, pointing at a nearby building. “That building still has power!”

“Open it,” Athena orders as she whips her shield and smashes three Guardians.

Vaughn quickly hits the button and the four of them leap inside. He presses it again and the door closes behind them, sealing them in a dimly lit room.

“What is this place?” Sasha asks. It takes a second for their eyes to adjust as they look around.

From the outside, they couldn’t tell how big the building was because of the overgrown trees. Now they see that it’s massively tall; so tall, that they can’t see the ceiling. A stairwell runs along the wall seemingly all the way to the top. And standing in the middle, taking up almost all of the building, is an enormous robot.

It’s hard to make out the top half in the low light, but its legs are almost wider than a vehicle. It’s all a dull grey with the separation between the metal plating showing. It almost looks like it was never finished.

“That’s a big bot,” Vaughn comments as the group stares up at it.

“I wonder why it’s here,” Sasha muses.

“It…looks like Gortys,” Loader Bot comments.

“Huh?” the others question, looking at him.

A bright light suddenly appears overhead, nearly blinding everyone as they look up at it. It takes a second for them to realize it’s the eyes of the robot, looking down at them.

“Uh oh,” Vaughn squeaks.

“Intruders,” the robot booms, its voice sounding like a stereotypical robot. Metal creaks and scrapes together as it opens its massive hand and starts to reach for them.

“Everyone, out!” Athena barks.

Vaughn hits the button and everyone dives outside. They look back, expecting the robot to be chasing them. But it doesn’t. The door just shuts again.

“Okay. That was weird,” Sasha comments as they stand up.

“What was that thing?” Vaughn asks.

“Atlas Go-something Research Facility,” Loader Bot muses.

“What?” Sasha questions.

“That is what the entrance sign says,” he clarifies, “I believe the ‘Go’ is supposed to say ‘Gortys’. I think that robot is an old prototype of Gortys.”

“What?” Vaughn exclaims, “but we found her miles from here.”

“It’s possible multiple Atlas facilities could have been developing her,” Athena points out, “but it hardly matters now. The robot seems trapped in there and, more importantly, we seem to have lost the Guardians for now. We should catch up with the others.”

The others nod agreeably and Athena grabs her ECHO communicator. “Skies, you there?”

“Ugh, just a second,” she replies.

Across the island, in a pitch dark space underground, Skies groans painfully as she rolls over onto what feels like dirt. Beside her in a pile, August and Timothy do much the same as they crawl off of where they all fell onto Claptrap.

“We probably shouldn’t have jumped down at the same time,” Timothy remarks.

“Better than getting caught by Brick,” Skies says, “now, where are we?”

“I don’t know,” August grunts, “I can’t see in the dark either.”

“Skies, what’s going on?” Athena asks from Skies’ ECHO communicator. “Are you all alright?”

“Yeah, I think so,” she replies, “just a sec.”

Skies digs around in her coat for a second before finding a flashlight and turning it on. Immediately, the light reflects off something, nearly blinding everyone.

“Jeez!” August snaps, “what is…that…”

As everyone’s eyes adjust, they can’t help but stare in awe at what’s around them.

They’re in some kind of tunnel that goes off into the distance. The remains of wires and cords run along the walls and ceiling, some going up to the hole they dropped down from. But what’s so amazing is all the Eridium bursting out of the walls, floor, and ceiling. Bright purple gems of different sizes sparkle in the glow from Skies flashlight, creating a breathtaking view for multiple reasons.

“It’s so pretty,” Gortys squeals.

“We’re rich!” Claptrap exclaims.

“I’ve never seen so much Eridium in one place,” August breathes in awe.

“How is there so much?” Timothy asks.

“It must’ve burst out of the planet after the opening of the first Vault,” Skies muses, “man, if Hyperion knew about this place…”

“Skies. Skies, what is going on?” Athena asks impatiently. 

“Athena, we’re okay,” Skies replies into her ECHO communicator. “And you guys have got to see this. There are underground tunnels; find your way into one.”  
“Fine,” she grunts.

“Oh, and watch out for the Crimson Raiders,” Skies warns.

“The Crimson Raiders?” Athena questions, “why are they here?”

“Because they wanna kill me. I thought we all understood this.”

“Oh. Well, they just stopped wanting to kill me so I’d prefer if they didn’t know I was with you.”

“Cool. See you soon.”

“How are we supposed to get underground?” Sasha asks as Athena attaches her ECHO device back to her belt.

“They found a way,” Vaughn points out, “there must be entrances around the island.”

“We don’t have the time to look for one,” Athena retorts, “plus there’s enemies crawling all over the place. We need to move fast.”

“I agree,” Loader Bot says and reaches into his cloak. He removes a landmine which he plants onto the ground and activates. It blows up after a couple seconds, creating a small hole that leads into a deep, dark space.

“Okay, that was fast,” Sasha admits, “but not very subtle.”

“Let’s just go before any enemies show up,” Athena demands and jumps into the hole. The others follow one by one. 

The explosion does echo across the island, but fortunately the Crimson Raiders are too preoccupied by the Guardians to notice it. Skies and the others hear it though and start making their way through the tunnels in its direction.

“Watch your step,” Skies warns as she steps over a large Eridium crystal.

They move quickly but cautiously, Skies illuminating the way with her flashlight and carefully checking each turn. They pass by computer screens that must’ve been attached to the walls but have since been knocked down and shattered by the permeating Eridium.

After a few minutes, the group turn a corner into another beam of light, briefly startling everyone.

“Oh, hey, guys,” Skies says as she lowers her flashlight out of the eyes of the second team.

“Hm,” Athena grunts in response.

“Can you believe this?” Vaughn exclaims, gesturing to the surrounding crystals.

“I know, it’s pretty cool,” August nods.

“The Eridium is awesome,” Sasha agrees, “but we’re still no closer to finding Fiona and Rhys.”

“We just gotta keep looking,” Skies points out, “and watch out for the Guardians and the Crimson Raiders. Oof, this mission keeps getting harder.”

“So where do we go?” Timothy asks.

“Well, there’s nothing back where we came from,” Athena says.

“Same for us,” Skies adds.

“Hey, look,” Gortys exclaims, pointing down an adjacent turn. “A light.”

There is a dim light shimmering farther down the tunnel. Everyone shares a look before shrugging and heading towards it.

The source is a large computer screen hanging off the wall with only a few intact wires attached. The screen is white and blank, seemingly on standby.

“It’s weird that only a few things on the island have power, right?” Skies questions.

“The eruption of the Eridium must’ve caused a lot of damage to the facility, which might explain why it’s abandoned,” Athena muses, “some of the technology must’ve survived and still has power running through it.”

“Whatever,” Sasha grunts impatiently, “let’s just keep looking.”

They start to walk away when they notice movement on the screen. Everyone looks at it as two words appear. Just two little words that make a chill run down the spines- literal and figurative- of Athena, Timothy, Skies, and Claptrap.

‘Heya, kiddos.’

“It-it’s not,” Timothy stammers, backing up into the wall. “It couldn’t be…”

“It’s not possible!” Claptrap cries.

Athena just snarls, gripping her gun, and Skies scowls, the bad feeling she’s been having finally making sense.

“Jack.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see what happened to Rhys and Fiona after opening the Vault of the Traveler.

Chapter 20

_Previously_

“Jack! Where are you!”

Fiona awoke with a start and shot up. “Rhys?”

She looked around in a panic, immediately not recognizing where she was. She was sitting in long, unkempt grass surrounded by overgrown trees. In between the trunks she could see white buildings. To her left was a large, cave-like opening that seemed to go underground into pitch blackness.

“Where-how did-,” she stammered frantically but stopped and forced herself to take some deep breaths. Once she had calmed a little, she thought back, to the last thing she remembered.

The Vault of the Traveler.

“Heh, oh yeah,” Fiona grinned and stood up, dusting herself off. Nearby she spotted her hat and quickly put it back on.

After defeating the Traveler, she and Rhys went inside the Vault. Together, they opened the chest inside and were met with a blinding light. It must’ve teleported them here. Speaking of which-.

“Where’s Rhys?” Fiona asked and glanced around. “I swear I heard him.”

“Rhys!” she shouted out, her voice echoing into the distance. Instantly, rustling was heard from the surrounding treetops. Fiona looked around fearfully as it got louder and closer from all sides. She was not sure what was causing it, but she was willing to bet it wasn’t friendly. And the only weapon she had was her hidden pistol.

She looked at the dark cave behind her. She couldn’t see what was down there, but it sounded a lot quieter. So she quickly scurried through the opening and ducked down in the darkness.

Large insectoid creatures quickly landed on the spot she was just standing. She wasn’t sure what they were, but she saw them when she and Sasha were inside the Traveler.

They looked around for a second before flying off and Fiona sighed with relief. She considered going back outside but without any way of defending herself, she decided against it. This cave would be safer.

She looked back into the deeper, darker depths. At least, she hoped it would be.

Fiona patted her pockets, looking for something to provide some illumination. She found a lighter and after lighting it, she could only gasp in awe.

The little flame didn’t light up much, but the large Eridium crystals surrounding her still glistened and sparkled. It was breathtaking, and not just because it looked beautiful.

“I’m rich!” she cheered then immediately clapped her hand over her mouth. She nervously looked back towards the surface, making sure she was still alone, before sighing with relief.

“Yeah,” she whispered and started moving deeper into the cave. “I’ll definitely take the Eridium-filled cave over the monster-infested forest.”

Meanwhile, across the island, Rhys was slowly waking up. He groaned painfully, his entire body aching. It felt like he just ran a marathon.

When he finally peeled open his eyes, he realized he was lying inside some kind of metal room. There were no windows; just an electronic door and a large computer with a blank screen.

“Where…am I…?” he asked as he sat up, rubbing his head. The last thing he remembered was opening the Vault with Fiona, which made him burst into a huge grin. But that didn’t last long when he realized he still has no idea where he was, or where she was for that matter.

And as he struggled to stand with his aching legs, he remembered one more thing: the nightmare he just had while he was unconscious.

“Jack,” he gasped and reached for his pants pockets. They were both empty. He kept patting himself down, looking for something, when the computer screen suddenly changed.

‘You called?’ appeared in blue text.

“Nononono,” Rhys stammered fearfully and knelt down to look at the computer’s console. The front had been torn off rather unceremoniously and past all the wires, connected into the controls, Rhys spotted his old ECHO eye.

“No, no, no,” he panted in disbelief, clutching his head in his hands. “I didn’t-I-I couldn’t have…”

‘Oh, but you did, cupcake,’ appeared on the computer screen. ‘Pretty impressive, actually, since you did while half-asleep. I would thank you, but these digs ain’t exactly up to scratch.’

“Oh, what did I do…” Rhys moaned, sitting flat on the floor as he dragged his hands through his hair. “All those nightmares…is this what I was trying to do all this time?”

‘Nightmares? Aw, you missed me that much? I’m flattered, pumpkin.’

“Shut up, shut up,” he snapped, shaking his head. “Stop talking-er, typing. I-I could…I’ll just unplug you.”

‘You could. But would your guilt-ridden conscience be able to handle that? Besides, without me, how will you be able to get around this dangerous island? Or find your girlfriend?’

“What-huh?” Rhys questioned, “dangerous island? Girlfriend?”

‘Wow, you really have no idea what’s going on, do you? Just take a peek outside.’

Rhys hesitantly stood up, constantly glancing at the computer as if expecting it to do something, and approached the door. He pushed the button on the control panel, opening it to reveal large insect monsters not far outside. They all looked at Rhys and he yelped as they charged.

The door slammed shut on them, seemingly on its own, and Rhys turned back to the computer.

“What are those things?” he cried.

‘Guardians,’ Jack replied, ‘don’t wanna mess with them without the proper firepower.’

“Oh, I-I got,” Rhys stammered as he reached into his coat and pulled out a Hyperion pistol. “I got a gun!”

‘Wow. One pistol. They should just surrender right now.’

Rhys glared at the screen. “I hate that I can still tell you’re being sarcastic, even in text.”

‘Yeah. It’s still not as satisfying without a voice though.’

Rhys groaned and started pacing, scratching his head. “Why am I even here? Where’s everyone else?”

‘Dunno. But I know where your hat girl is.’

“Hat girl?” he questioned, “you mean Fiona? She’s here?”

‘Yuppers. I’ll even lead you to her.’

Rhys jumped at the sound of scraping metal and turned to see a small section of the floor sliding away to reveal a hole leading into a dark space underground.

‘Go ahead. Jump in.’

“Down there?” Rhys questioned, “how do I know this isn’t a trick? How can I trust you?”

‘Look, kiddo. If I was gonna kill you, I would’ve already, for trapping me in this weak-ass, half-running Atlas computer system. But I can’t because I’m trapped in this weak-ass, half-running Atlas computer system. So shut up and jump in the freekin hole. Or deal with the monsters outside.’

Rhys glanced at the door then back at the hole. Without a real choice, he sighed in defeat and jumped in.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skies and the crew finally find Rhys and Fiona...and a surprise guest.

Chapter 21

_Now_

“Jack,” Skies snarls.

“No, it-it’s not possible,” Timothy stammers in disbelief.

“He’s right!” Claptrap exclaims, pointing at the computer screen. “How can Jack be in there? He’s dead!”

“It’s his AI,” Skies replies plainly.

Another word appears on the screen. ‘Bingo’.

Crying out with rage, Athena smashes the computer with one swing of her shield.

“What did Rhys do?” she growls.

“It can’t be his AI,” Sasha argues, “Rhys said he destroyed it.”

“Well…he never…definitively said that,” Vaughn points out, “just that he removed it from his head.”

Everyone is quiet for a second, trying to make sense of the situation. Then Skies takes a deep breath and continues walking down the tunnel. “Come on.”  
“What?” Timothy questions.

“We have to find Rhys and Fiona, right?” she says, “so let’s go.”

Everyone follows her down the passage, now feeling tenser than ever. Soon they spot another light source up ahead, this one seemingly streaming out of a doorway. As they get nearer, two people scamper out and stand before them.

The group stops as their flashlights illuminate the figures and they stare at each other, shocked for second.

“Fiona!” Sasha cries.

“Rhys!” Vaughn exclaims.

“Guys!” Rhys and Fiona cheer.

The four of them race into a tight hug, talking over each other with excitement. Gortys and Loader Bot are quick to join in, Loader Bot patting Rhys and Fiona’s backs while Gortys whoops happily.

“Aw, ain’t that sweet,” Claptrap comments while Athena, Timothy, and Skies watch, smiling.

As the hugging starts to wind down, Rhys spots Skies and smiles at her. She smiles back, a bit more awkwardly.

Nudging her shoulder, Timothy says, “this is the part where you hug him.”

“Hu-!” she gasps then clears her throat. “Uh, that-that’s a bit…advanced for me. How about a handshake, or a fist bump? Or a friendly punch in the shoulder? I’m good at that.”

Claptrap suddenly shoves her and she stumbles up to Rhys. She glares back at the robot, who just waves innocently while Timothy shrugs, before facing him.

“Uh, Rhys, hey,” she stammers, “it’s-I-um…I’m glad you’re okay. N-not that I was worried or anything. I knew you’d be fine. B-but I mean I wasn’t just gonna leave you, obviously. And-and you know, I’m happy to see you. I mean we’ve been looking for you for days. B-but not just because of that. I’m not just glad to finish a quest or something-.”

“Skies,” Rhys says, stopping her rambles. She looks at him and he smiles. “I’m happy to see you too.”

Skies shoulders relax and she smiles back. “Thanks.”  
“Aw, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

The voice sends a visible chill up Skies’ spine and catches everyone’s attention. They all look into the brightly lit room while Fiona glowers and Rhys sighs heavily.

“So much for a happy reunion,” Fiona grumbles as everyone goes inside.

The room appears to be some kind of living space. In the center is a small kitchen table with a couple chairs; against the opposite wall is a small stove, mini fridge, and sink; and in the wall to the left is a doorway leading to a bedroom.

The wall to the right is covered in computers, consoles, and about a dozen different screens. And displayed on all those screens is the smug grin of Handsome Jack.

“Well, well, well,” he purrs, “what a reunion! Look at you all!”

“Bandit girl. Gotta say, liked your old hairstyle better. My old pal, Muscles! What’s with the get-up, you some kind of bandit king? I guess that’s an upgrade. Athena, looking as angry as ever. My first body double. I bet you were hoping I forgot about you, but Handsome Jack never forgets a bitch. And Skies…”  
“Wow,” he sighs, “so many people I hate all in one room. Rhys, I just-I gotta thank you for bringing us all together like this.”

Rhys groans guiltily as everyone glares at him. He opens his mouth, hoping to defend himself, when Athena suddenly rushes forward.

“Whoa!” he squeaks, barely dodging her punch.

“Athena!” Skies roars and swings at her. She dodges and they both grab their guns.

Two shots ring out as the bullets pierce the ceiling. Fiona, Sasha, and Vaughn struggle to hold back Athena while Timothy, August, and Loader Bot do the same with Skies, keeping their guns pointed upwards. Claptrap and Gortys roll around in between them in a panic while Rhys stays back and Jack laughs.

“I warned you Athena!” Skies barks, “I told you if you tried to hurt him, I would eviscerate you!”

“I should’ve known better than to trust either of you!” Athena shouts, “especially you, you Jack lover!”

“Guys, stop!” Gortys begs, “friends shouldn’t fight!”

“Aw, come on, let them go,” Jack says, “I’d love to see them go at it. An unstoppable force verses an immoveable object.”

“Shut up, Jack!” everyone yells.

“Alright, enough!” Rhys snaps, stepping in between them. “Look, this is my fault. You all deserve to be mad at me; you can even try to kill me later. But do it after we’ve collected our Vault prizes. Alright?”

“What prizes?” Vaughn asks.

“Sorry, did you miss all the Eridium in those tunnels?” Fiona asks snidely.

“Yeah, plus this entire Atlas facility,” Rhys adds.

“So this island is the real Vault treasure?” Sasha questions.

“I’ll explain,” he says and points at Skies and Athena. “If you two settle down.”

They glare at each other for a second and Skies drops her gun. “Fine.”

Athena huffs but does the same. Everyone lets them go and Rhys sighs with relief.

“Thank you,” he says and clears his throat. “Now. One of the theories about the Vault of the Traveler is that when opened, it would teleport its victors to their nearest place of desire.”

“So this island is your desire?” August questions, “how’s that?”

“Well, I wanna rebuild Atlas,” Rhys replies.

“And I wanna be rich,” Fiona adds.

“So the facility would be great for my needs once I get it running again,” he explains, “and all that Eridium will make Fiona filthy rich.”

“The filthiest,” she grins.

“There’s just one problem. Well, a few actually.”

Rhys goes over to the computers and pushes a button. One of the screens change from Jack’s face to a view of the surface, where a large battle is taking place between the Crimson Raiders, the Guardians, and the Jack haters.

“That third group wasn’t there last time we checked,” Fiona says.

“Aw, jeez,” Timothy groans.

“If we want to take over this island, not only do we have to deal with all of this,” Rhys explains, gesturing to the fight. “But also the Prototype.”

“The Prototype?” Vaughn questions.

“This facility was one of the many that was working on the Gortys project,” he replies. 

“Me?” Gortys questions.

“That’s right,” he nods, patting her head. “And they created a prototype of your final form.”

“I knew it,” Loader Bot states.

“The Prototype is unstable and dangerous,” Rhys continues, “and it’s being housed in the main control tower. I need to get into that tower to take control of the facility, but I can’t do that as long as the Prototype is up and running.”

“So, to summarize,” Fiona says, “we need to take control of the island by defeating those three groups on the surface and the giant robot.”

“Sounds fun,” Skies comments.

“How are we gonna do it?” Athena asks.

“I’m working on a plan,” Rhys replies and sits at the table. “In the meantime, why don’t you guys take it easy? You all look exhausted.”

“Well, it has been a stressful day,” Vaughn sighs.

Everyone splits off into groups around the room: Vaughn sits with Rhys, Fiona and Sasha go into the bedroom, and Loader Bot and Gortys hang around by the door, with Claptrap following them like a lost puppy. Athena and August keep to themselves while Skies and Timothy watch the screen displaying the surface.

Skies sighs heavily as she watches fight, rubbing the scar across her right eye.

“Maybe they’ll kill each other,” Timothy says hopefully.

“Not likely,” she grunts, “the Crimson Raiders will win. It’s what they do.”

“I’m rooting for the guys in the Handsome Jack masks,” Jack states, “they got good taste.”

“They hate you, y’know,” Skies says.

“Oh. Well, nobody’s perfect. ‘Cept me, of course.”

Skies scoffs with disgust. “Just ignore him,” Timothy says.

“I cannot believe I put up with him as long as I did,” she mumbles.

Jack huffs with annoyance and takes over the screen they’re watching, making them cry with surprise.

“Look at you two,” he snorts, “wearing cheap rags, covered in dirt and grime, like a couple of peasants. You both were living it up back on Helios.”

“Better alive and free than ‘living it up’ with you,” Timothy retorts.

“Ha! Yeah, tell him, Tim,” Skies guffaws.

“Free?” Jack scoffs, “is that what you felt after you ran away? Knowing I could blow up your head anytime?”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“Too easy and too quick. I wanted you to suffer; to live in fear, until the day I came after you myself.”

“But you didn’t. And then you died.”

Jack snarls furiously, unable to retort. His glare darkens at Skies chuckling.

“What happened to you two?” he asks, “you were two of my most loyal subordinates.”

Skies giggling stops and she glares at him. “Aw, are your feewings hurt? Do you miss the times when we worked for you in exchange for our lives?”

“What happened, Jack,” she says sternly, “is that we spent time away from you and we learned what you truly are: a sickness. And you infect everyone who dares get close to you.”

“You’re a virus, Jack.” 


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys comes up with a plan.

Chapter 22

Five buzzards fly through the sky, all of them carrying bandits in Handsome Jack masks. The leader, Mick Scabbers, raises his mask as he spots more buzzards and a junky flying machine parked on a nearby island.

“That’s them!” he shouts, “I told you we’d find them! Land here!”

After the buzzards land, the Jack haters hop off, brandishing their weapons and charge into the trees. It doesn’t take them long to find the Crimson Raiders fighting off an army of Guardians.

“Firehawk! I have come for my redemption!” Scabbers declares while his bandits cheer.

Lilith looks back at them and groans in exhaustion. “This is gonna be a long day.”  
Underground in Rhys and Fiona’s hideout, Skies pensively watches the battle on one of the monitors. Her right hand fiddles with something inside her coat as she keeps a particularly close eye on Lilith. Then Jack’s face takes over the screen.

“Gah!” she cries out in surprise then glares at him. “Would you quit doing that? I’m trying to watch the fight.”

“Well, you should quit ignoring me,” he huffs.

“God, were you always this clingy? You’re on like every other monitor; just let me have one.”

While they argue, Rhys, Vaughn, and Timothy watch from the nearby table.

“I told her to just ignore him,” Timothy says.

“Easier said than done,” Rhys points out.

“That’s true.”

Fiona and Sasha leave the bedroom, stretching and sighing contently after a nice nap.

“So,” Fiona says, planting her hand on the tabletop. “Come up with a plan yet?”

“No,” Rhys sighs, “I don’t know how to handle this. We’re way too outnumbered. Not to mention, most of us aren’t even fighters.”

“Speak for yourself,” Athena scoffs.

“Why don’t we have Gortys go all giant and take them out?” August suggests.

“I don’t wanna hurt them,” Gortys gasps.

“It’s not as simple as just killing everyone,” Rhys argues, “the Crimson Raiders aren’t our enemies, really. In fact, I’d like to ask for their help, but…”

He trails off as he glances at Skies, who guiltily looks away.

“I’ll talk to them,” Claptrap volunteers, “they’re my friends after all. I’ll tell them you’re all my friends too and then we’ll all be friends.”

“That plan doesn’t exactly instill confidence,” Vaughn comments.

“Alright, alright, look,” Skies says, stepping forward. “I got two ideas, neither of them I really like, but the way I see it, they’re all we’ve really got.” 

“First…” She takes a deep breath. “I turn myself in.”

“No!” Timothy snaps.

“Absolutely not,” Rhys argues.

“They’ll kill you!” Vaughn points out.

“I don’t want them to hurt you!” Gortys cries, hugging Skies midriff. She smiles awkwardly, resting her hand on the robot’s head.

“I don’t think it’s that bad a plan,” Athena remarks.

“Me neither,” Jack adds.

Skies scowls and clears her throat. “Okay, I got another idea.”

She reaches into her coat and pulls out a metal collar with lines crisscrossing its surface.

“The hell’s that?” Sasha asks.

“Why do you have that?” Jack demands.

“You gave it to me,” Skies replies, “after you started using Lilith to charge the Vault key in the Vault of the Warrior.”

“And you’ve had it this entire time?” he questions. “Wow, you must be really sentimental or…really scared of Lilith.”

Skies flinches defensively. “Well, so what! She did kind of destroy my body and she is the most powerful Siren on the planet. I don’t think it’s wrong to be a little…scared of her…”

“Can somebody explain what that thing is?” Fiona asks impatiently.

“It controls Sirens,” Skies replies.

“In laymen’s terms,” Jack snorts. 

“Jack used it on Lilith, making her completely defenseless,” she explains, “I don’t know if it still works but I figure if we just show it to her, it should slow her down and the Crimson Raiders along with her. And if we do have to use it on her, I’ll be the one to do it. If it doesn’t work, she’ll lash back hard. I’ll be the one to deserve that.”

“No, no, no,” Rhys snaps, standing up. “Skies, no offense, but both those plans suck.”

“I’ve decided,” he declares, “I’m gonna talk to them.”

Everyone stares at him incredulously.

“Talk? You know, with words?” he clarifies, “I figure I can convince them that we can be allies and work together to take the island. We can all benefit from it.”

“How will they benefit?” Fiona asks.

“Fiona, come on,” he insists.

She glares at him for a second before relenting. “Ugh, fine. I’ll share some of my Eridium.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Vaughn says, “we owe Moxxi some of that treasure too.”

“Moxxi? Like Mad Moxxi?” Fiona questions.

“Yeah, she helped us out earlier,” Sasha replies.

“Fine,” she groans, “they can all get a share. But I’m going with you to talk with them.”

“Great,” Rhys smiles.

“I’m coming too,” Claptrap announces.

“Uh…alright,” he shrugs and claps his hands together. “Now we just have to get them out of the fight and underground.”

“I can help with that,” Jack beams.

“No you won’t,” Rhys argues, “you’re gonna stay hidden as much as possible. They definitely won’t help us if they know you’re here.”  
He huffs and pouts.

“How are you gonna keep him hidden?” Athena asks.

“This room is the only one he has any actual power in,” Rhys replies, “the rest he can only type on any working screens, at best. I guess this room is on a separate generator or something.”

“Anyway, there’s a door to the surface near here. I’ll lure them to that building and we’ll talk there.”

“Cool, let’s go,” August says and grabs his rifle.

“No,” Rhys insists, “we need this meeting to be as peaceful as possible, which is why Fiona and I-.”

“And me!” Claptrap adds.

“…and Claptrap…will be going alone, unarmed.”

“Rhys, that’s super risky,” Skies points out.

“I don’t think they’ll attack us,” he argues, “they’re not savages.”

“Ha!” Jack snorts.

“You guys can watch us on the monitor and if things start to go south, you can step in,” Rhys says then looks at Fiona. “Ready?”

“Yup,” she nods and they leave, Claptrap at their heels.

Everyone turns to the screens and Skies points at one. “Jack, change one to the building they’re in. And so help me, if you interrupt it, I will smash all of these monitors.”  
He scowls but does as he’s told, switching the screen to an empty building with a large computer console. A section of the floor opens up and Rhys and Fiona climb out, struggling to pull Claptrap up with them.

“Ugh, alright,” Fiona grunts, “so how are we gonna get them here?”

“Actually,” Rhys replies, patting Claptrap. “We do need Claptrap for this.”

The robot looks at him expectantly.


End file.
